Third-party litigation funding is always a hot topic, but the news came especially fast and furious in March. Burford Capital had a big cameo in a judge’s ruling for Chevron Corporation in New York, and then capped the month by announcing a 25 percent boost in profits. The Australian litigation financier Bentham IMF Ltd teamed up with a U.S. hedge fund titan, Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp., and launched operations in Europe. And on Monday, Chicago-based Longford Capital Management shook up the litigation funding world by announcing that a departing senior Morgan Stanley executive will serve as chairman of the fledgling firm.
William Strong, co–CEO of Morgan Stanley’s Asia-Pacific operations based in Hong Kong and a member of the bank’s global management committee, will take the helm at Longford on May 1. While other major banks have dabbled in litigation funding, Strong appears to be the first senior executive at a top Wall Street investment bank to make such a move.
