We can assist you with

assessing your litigation risk

financing for your lawyers and experts

valuing your litigation portfolio

renegotiating your funding agreement

growing and financing your law firm

That’s what we do

Recent Thinking

Insights
Opening Welcome Speech to LF Dealmakers Europe 2025
Opening Welcome Speech to LF Dealmakers Europe 2025

The funding industry needs to put the interests of society front and centre of its business: as gatekeepers of what gets to proceed, we need to be responsible about what we fund; we have to be honest about our mistakes; but we also need a clear framework from the judiciary that allows the dealmakers in this room to predict the financial impact of their successful decisions as well as their mistakes.

The Tillis Bill: the Wrong Way to Control Litigation Funding
The Tillis Bill: the Wrong Way to Control Litigation Funding

In the US, Senator Tillis has proposed a bill that would tax litigation funding into submission. Our view is that this is the wrong way to go about the debate on whether litigation funding is good or not. The courts are shaping litigation funding, and government should choose to regulate if it wants to - not subscribe to the interests of large corporations that realise the liability they created can now come back to haunt them.

Part I: What is a fair and reasonable return for a funder?
Part I: What is a fair and reasonable return for a funder?

When assessing litigation funding returns, time to return is the most difficult factor to assess. There is a wide range of returns; and returns can go long, but it is reasonable to expect that it will take an average of 3.7 years for cash to do a round trip - but that may mean it takes 7 years from start to finish.

Which law firms should be FCA regulated?
Which law firms should be FCA regulated?

In the UK, when law firms work for clients on no-win-no-fee arrangements they are, effectively, insuring their clients if there is an adverse costs award against the client. The Civil Justice Counsel has identified that some law firms should be FCA-regulated. We agree where law firms are insuring adverse costs awards against their clients.

Headshot of a man with glasses, light beard, neutral expression, wearing a white shirt, standing in front of a neutral background.

Simon Southwood

Founder

Simon is an experienced financier and CFO of public companies, having worked internationally on complex advisory, equity, debt and M&A mandates.

After leading the $180 million IPO of Juridica Investments Limited and acting as its CFO in the build-out of the portfolio, he has been involved in the industry, most recently as a partner in Legis Finance, which has a $104 million credit line with major credit funds..

Aside from litigation funding, Simon has experience of financing multiple asset classes and businesses, including fine art, luxury, mining, property, accounting services, financial services, and support services — both as advisor and as principal and founder of businesses.  He brings this experience to bear on the work Crescient undertakes.

Simon majored in pure mathematics and philosophy at the University of Cape Town, and completed the CFA program.  In his spare time, he runs an organic farm and is patron of a foundation for the development of arts and culture on Ibiza.

Professional portrait of a smiling woman with light brown hair, wearing a black blazer and silver jewelry against a dark background.

Louise Trayhurn

Founder

Originally trained at Allen & Overy in London and Paris, Louise is an experienced legal finance professional with nearly 20 years’ combined litigation and litigation finance experience.

Following wide-ranging litigation, mediation and arbitration experience gaining perspectives from both defence and claimant side firms, as well as the GC and regulator perspectives, she assisted in the development of the litigation funding arm of Orchard Global Asset Management LLP, and then went on to help co-found Bench Walk Advisors in 2017 and later became a partner in Legis Finance, which manages a $104m litigation risk backed credit line.  She is a regular speaker on the conference circuit with recognised expertise on litigation funding in the UK.

Louise also sits on the Development Committee of Classics for All which supports teaching provision of under privileged children. She has two children of her own and a puppy and can often be found chasing after one or more of them through the Surrey Hills.