Woodsford Litigation Funding, the global provider of litigation financing solutions for businesses, individuals and law firms, has announced the opening of its first US office in Philadelphia.The company has added former United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York Shira Scheindlin and former Latham & Watkins partner David McLean to its investment advisory panel as well as adding two heavyweight recruits. Josh Meltzer and Alex Lempiner join from Rembrandt IP Management. Mr Meltzer becomes Woodsford’s new US managing director. They will combine forces with senior investment officer Zachary Krug, who came on board in January from the Los Angeles office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, to drive the US business amid increasing market demand.

Key player

'We are hugely excited by our US expansion. Our focus has always been global and we have already funded a significant number of US cases. The timing is now right to make this logical next step to become a key player in the US litigation funding market,' said Steven Friel, Woodsford’s CEO. Commenting on the new appointments, Mr Friel said: 'Judge Scheindlin and David McLean bring a wealth of experience and credibility with them and together with Josh, Alex and Zachary we are launching our US operation with a truly outstanding team in place.'

International expertise

Judge Shira Scheindlin commented: 'I am pleased to join Woodsford as it brings its international expertise to the United States. My role will be to help identify meritorious claimants whose claims should be provided with funding. Small and mid-size businesses and individuals deserve an equal chance to prove their claims. It is well known that litigation – and indeed arbitration – can be very expensive particularly in the era of massive electronic discovery. Every party should have an equal chance to prevail and I am excited to play a small part in achieving this goal.'

Litigation solutions

Woodsford Litigation Funding was founded in 2010 and provides tailored litigation financing solutions for businesses, individuals and law firms. This includes both single case and portfolio litigation funding and arbitration funding. Woodsford is a founder member of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales.