Burford Capital has announced a number of new hires across its global business that bring its headcount to over 140 employees, 66 of whom are lawyers. In addition to new hires in New York, Washington and Chicago, Senior Vice President Dr. Jörn Eschment has relocated to Switzerland to oversee the growth of Burford’s substantial business in the DACH region of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Burford Capital has announced that it is committing an additional $100 million to The Equity Project, its groundbreaking initiative designed to increase diversity in the business of law. Burford first launched The Equity Project in October 2018 with $50 million in legal finance capital earmarked for matters led by women. Having committed well in excess of that amount to Equity Project matters as of December 31, 2020, Burford has now broadened the initiative to include racial diversity and thus address a deficit in representation that is even more acute than the gender gap. Burford has already made a multi-million commitment under the newly expanded Equity Project to a matter led by a female in-house lawyer and a racially diverse outside litigation team for a Fortune 100 company.

Burford Capital has provided an update on its business performance for the six months ended June 30, 2021. The company saw $500+ million in new commitments, with a continuance in its trend towards funding larger and more complex new matters. Of its 14 new case investments, none had commitment levels under $5 million while six were $20 million or above. COVID has continued to impact the company, however, with an estimated 43% of cases incurring COVID-related delays, ranging from court date postponements to delays in the provision of discovery to slower settlement activity given the absence of a looming trial date to engender settlement. Optimistically, Burford believes that, due to how it often prices deals, ultimate returns may actually increase because of the passage of time.