UK Funder Joins With Law Firm, Insurer to Form Legal Behemoth

A litigation funder is forming a novel company designed to oversee cases from inception to resolution.

UK-based Asertis is now the funding arm of newly formed Legatus Holdings Limited, which includes other subsidiaries KP Law, an insurance managing general agent, and a mass tort and group action claim acquisition company.

The new venture aims to put under one roof two mainstays of the litigation funding ecosystem: investments in mass torts claims and insurance offerings for parties in lawsuits. It highlights the opportunities for funders in the UK and other places where restrictions on law firm ownership have been relaxed.

“There’s nothing in the UK that mirrors this, that has those four subsidiaries vertically integrated into legal assets,” said Legatus chief executive officer Philip Holden. “We have created a unique and compelling vertically integrated group, where each operating business is led by market-leading professionals with established pedigrees in their respective fields,” said Holden, who formerly served as Asertis general counsel, in a statement.

The new venture streamlines litigation finance, according to Holden. Instead of outsourcing for claim aggregation or insurance to cover adverse costs, it will all happen in one place. The companies are not required to only work within Legatus and can work with the rest of the market.

Philip Holden

Photo: Asertis

“The reorganization of Asertis into Legatus is going to allow us to grow more rapidly,” said Holden.

The law firm subsidiary KP Law is the result of a 2024 merger between the UK divisions of two massive US mass tort firms: Keller Postman and Lanier, Logstaff, Hedar & Roberts. Asertis bought Keller Postman UK in 2023 and acquired Lanier Longstaff the following year. Lanier’s docket includes both the UK and European claims in the talcum powder litigation against Johnson & Johnson. It cut ties with both Keller Postman and Lanier in the US after the purchase.

Nonlawyer Ownership Debate

These kinds of arrangements—often referred to as “alternative business structures"—are far less common in the US, where most states ban nonlawyers from having ownership interests in law firms. Arizona, Utah, and Washington, DC are among the jurisdictions that have loosened the restrictions to varying degrees.

The practice has been commonplace in the UK for more than a decade, with private equity investments flowing directly to law firms and some publicly traded.

Stephen Mayson, a professor of law at University College London and a chair of an ABS in the UK, says a structure like this has been a long time coming and the original intention of the ABS provision was to encourage multidisciplinary businesses. But combining businesses that are all regulated differently could present difficulties.

“Putting this together under one umbrella looks great from a multidisciplinary perspective,” said Mayson. “This will be enormously complex from a regulatory perspective.”

He added that this could influence how the US looks at nonlawyer ownership, “If this sort of thing happens in a crossborder situation there might be more pressure on US regulators to look closely to how they do this.”

KP Law partner Duncan Hedar is the new CEO of Asertis and will continue to work at the firm as head of antitrust. He’s replacing Ian Madej, who is now Legatus chief commercial officer.

The newly formed insurance arm, Toremis Specialty, is led by Nathan Hull, who previously was the director and head of contingent and litigation risk at VALE Insurance Partners according to his LinkedIn.

Neil Gee will head up newly formed Cavis, which focuses on marketing mass tort and group actions claims on television, radio and social media.

Funding Pipeline

Asertis’ two main investors are European fund manager Arrow Global and investment company AB CarVal. Arrow has approximately €90 billion ($93 billion) in assets under management and was acquired by British private equity firm TDR Capital in 2021. AB CarVal has approximately $19 billion in assets under management and was acquired by global asset management firm AllianceBernstein in 2022. The funding will remain in place at the Legatus level, said Holden.

Asertis has a £350 million ($431 million) revolving loan with an unidentified loan company, according to Companies House documents.

Asertis launched in 2019 and invests in commercial litigation, arbitration, group actions and securities litigation, according to its website. It also funds and purchases commercial disputes. It is funding a UK class action representing professional rugby players who’ve sustained brain injuries in a case against World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and Welsh Rugby Union. Asertis has an agreement with the law firm Rylands Garth, which is representing the athletes.

According to Companies House documents, Asertis operated at a loss of over £3 million in 2022 but in 2023 it had an over £13 million profit. The 2024 financials have not been publicized yet.