Burford is the largest and most experienced provider of commercial legal finance in the world. We set the industry gold standard.
About Burford
Burford at a glance
12
12-year track record
Burford’s track record of profitability and client success sets us apart.
140+
Employees
The largest and most experienced team makes us a fast, professional and client-friendly partner.
4
Continents
Burford’s global team works from seven offices on four continents.
1,000+
Matters in portfolio
Burford’s portfolio includes more than 1,000 commercial matters.
96%
Returns on concluded matters
Burford predicted returns on concluded matters in its portfolio with 96% accuracy.
91%
Top 100 law firms
Burford’s team has worked with over 91% of the world’s 100 largest law firms.History
Burford's CEO Christopher Bogart and CIO Jonathan Molot met at a RAND conference in 2009 and discovered a shared interest in developing new ways for companies and law firms to manage the cost of high-stakes commercial disputes. As Time Warner’s former general counsel, Chris had crafted the $35 million fee paid to Cravath for its work on the AOL/Time Warner merger—then the largest corporate contingency fee in history. As a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, Jon had investigated market solutions to address the impact of unequal financial resources on litigation outcomes.
Soon after meeting, Chris and Jon launched Burford with a modest $130 million IPO on the London Stock Exchange in October 2009.
Since then, Burford has worked with hundreds of law firms and corporations, including 91 of the world’s 100 largest law firms. Our team has grown from five people at the end of 2009 to over 140 people today, including some 55 lawyers, in offices in New York, London, Chicago, Washington, Singapore, Sydney and Hong Kong. Since September 2020, Burford has been a founding member of the International Legal Finance Association, the global voice of the commercial legal finance industry.
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2009 // Burford IPO
In the midst of the global recession, Burford raises $130 million IPO on the LSE AIM market.
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2010 // First-ever portfolio investment
Recognizing the benefit to clients of financing multiple matters in one capital facility, Burford makes its first legal finance portfolio investment—a first for the industry.
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2011 // Burford opens London office
With the acquisition of the UK’s leading ATE insurance provider, Firstassist Legal Expenses, Burford enters the UK legal finance market.
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2012 // Inaugural legal finance survey
Burford launches its inaugural annual research survey; one in ten respondents say their organizations have used litigation finance.
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2013 // Trailblazers
Burford founders Christopher Bogart and Jonathan Molot named among the National Law Journal’s inaugural list of Legal Business Trailblazers & Pioneers.
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2014 // Burford breaks half-billion-dollar mark of capital raised
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2015 // Burford launches in Hong Kong
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2016 // With Gerchen Keller Capital acquisition, Burford opens Chicago office
Burford becomes the world’s largest provider of legal finance by a significant margin and the only provider with both public and private capital.
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2017 // Burford opens office in Singapore
The first Singapore-seated arbitration funded by a third-party finance provider is financed by Burford.
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2018 // The Equity Project launches
The Equity Project launches with a $50 million pool of capital earmarked for financing commercial litigation and arbitration matters led by women—creating an economic incentive to help close the gender gap in law.
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2019 // Burford continues growth
With offices having been added in Sydney and Washington, DC, Burford continues to grow its team and business.
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2020 // Burford lists in NY
Burford becomes the first legal finance firm to be publicly traded in the US (NYSE:BUR) and the first dual listed company in the legal finance industry.
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2021 // The Equity Project expansion
Burford commits an additional $100 million and expands its award-winning initiative to include matters led by both female or racially diverse lawyers who have been historically underrepresented in the business of law.
