Industry veterans with finance and law backgrounds who understand clients’ needs, keep close to the funding market, and know what it means to represent a client.

Simon Southwood. A man with short hair, glasses, and a beard, wearing a white shirt, standing outdoors in front of a textured beige wall.

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.

Louise Trayhurn. A smiling woman with shoulder-length wavy blonde hair wearing a black blazer, silver earrings, and a silver necklace with a horseshoe-shaped pendant against a dark gradient 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.