Litigation funder Longford Capital Management LP is expected to announce today that it closed a $500 million fund that will be used to back corporate lawsuits in exchange for a cut of any eventual settlement or judgment, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Competing litigation-finance firms have raised and deployed hundreds of millions of dollars more in recent months. The industry has accelerated as investors — including pension funds, family offices and wealthy individuals — are drawn to a new asset that isn’t tied to the broader markets. The investments traditionally have funded plaintiffs in corporate litigation, though funders have begun looking for more creative ways to support defense-side work as the industry has matured. Longford said it attracted enough interest from investors to raise $1 billion for the recently closed fund, its second, but decided to cap it at half that. The firm’s first fund raised $56.5 million. Since its founding in late 2011, Longford has put $137 million into 102 lawsuits. So far, 43 of those have settled or otherwise been resolved and have been “very successful for investors,” said William Strong, Longford’s chairman and managing director. He declined to discuss the exact rate of return.
