Acquisition International - Global Excellence 2021 157 Acquisition Intern tional - Issue 4 02 5 The Bench Walk Advantage Bench Walk Advisors is a premier legal finance firm created and run by a team of world-renowned litigators and experienced finance and insurance professionals. With a track record of funding successful cases that is unrivaled in the industry, the company has committed more than $300 million across over 100 commercial cases and portfolios since its global launch in 2017. tuart Grant, co-founder of Bench Walk, is one of the foremost attorneys in the US and has more than 30 years of corporate governance and securities litigation experience. He notably handled six of the seven largest settlements in the history of the Delaware Court of Chancery and has managed and invested his own capital to recover billions of dollars in settlements and judgments for his clients. Adrian Chopin, co-founder and managing director of Bench Walk’s London office, holds a background in structured finance and regulatory capital transactions at top banks as well as a First Class Degree in Law and is one of the leading figures in litigation funding globally. Bench Walk offers funding across a full spectrum of cases and product types. Successful cases the firm has funded include a $2 billion breach of contract claim against a large tech company in the U.S., a £2 billion group action claim with leading law firm Hausfeld in the UK and a number of group action claims against global car manufacturers. Bench Walk has an impressive client roster of corporates, financial institutions and professional services firms across the globe. Bench Walk is able to fund major claims or books of claims, and the firm’s structural flexibility allows it to commit finance at any stage of a piece of litigation or arbitration. But, unlike traditional litigation finance firms, Bench Walk goes beyond funding single cases and prides itself on its ability to deliver innovative, bespoke portfolio and other financing solutions that meet each client’s specific needs. By way of example, Bench Walk recently proposed a solution for a major global financial institution to allow that institution to derisk a large portion of its legal budget, for both contentious and non-contentious work on an entirely non-recourse basis. Also, unlike some other legal finance providers, Bench Walk operates on a streamlined basis that allows clients to work directly with a single point of contact who reports directly to a decisionmaker. The team itself is structured to respond rapidly to clients’ needs and prioritizes flexibility, knowing that no two cases or clients are the same. Bench Walk’s team has worked tirelessly to ensure the productivity of its clientele throughout the pandemic. The legal industry experienced a plethora of challenges over the course of 2020 that have continued into 2021, including the uncertain nature of litigation, increasing overheads and financial distress. As a result, law firms, claimants and brokers turned to Bench Walk Advisors as they began to embrace alternate modes of funding that would improve their balance sheets, reduce risk, enhance their P&L and free up their working capital. S Throughout the pandemic, the firm has received an uptick of interest as litigants who might previously have self funded turned to litigation finance to monetize claim values and/or cut legal expenses. Traditional corporate law firms, who have acted only on an hourly basis, are collaborating with BenchWalk to create synthetic contingent fee arrangements. Corporations have also approached the company directly as a risk management tool. In the UK, Bench Walk observed a shift in the market as a host of class action claims led to a rise in demand, and the U.S. team has taken on a myriad of portfolio cases as law firms compete with the contingent fee bar. The financing structures that Bench Walk provides have become essential to corporations and firms serviced by every aspect of the company’s operations, and by extension the legal industry as a whole. The reliance on Bench Walk’s products will certainly continue well into 2021 and post-pandemic times. Contact: [email protected] Company: Bench Walk Advisors LLC Web Address: www.benchwalk.com Jan21229 Adrian Chopin, co-founder and managing director of Bench Walk’s London Office
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