New Burford Quarterly Examines the Changing Economics of Legal Disputes

New York, June 11, 2026 – Burford Capital, the leading global finance and asset management firm focused on law, today releases its latest Burford Quarterly, a journal of legal finance that explores top trends at the nexus of law and finance.

As litigation costs continue to rise globally, corporate legal departments and law firms are facing pressure to manage risk, preserve liquidity and maximize the value of legal assets. Those challenges are unfolding against a backdrop of significant change in the disputes market, as advances in AI, evolving insolvency regimes and shifting commercial arbitration practices reshape how disputes are managed and resolved. This edition of the Burford Quarterly explores several of the trends influencing the economics of legal disputes, from escalating dispute costs and AI-enabled patent monetization to the evolving role of arbitration and opportunities emerging from major US liquidation proceedings.

“Companies are facing increasing pressure to manage legal budgets efficiently while continuing to pursue valuable claims and protect important assets,” said David Perla, Vice Chair at Burford Capital. “At the same time, developments in AI, insolvency and dispute resolution are creating new opportunities to generate value from legal and intellectual property assets. These trends are changing the economics of legal disputes and prompting companies to think differently about how legal risk and legal assets fit into broader business strategy. This issue of The Burford Quarterly explores several of the forces reshaping how businesses approach legal risk and opportunity.”

Articles in the Burford Quarterly No.3 2026

• The new reality of litigation: Higher fees, tighter budgets
  Top litigators are now charging more than $3,000 an hour, and corporate legal departments are feeling the pressure. Burford’s Evan Meyerson and Philipp Leibfried examine how rising fees, growing claim sizes and tighter budgets are reshaping the economics of high-stakes litigation and explore how companies are adapting their approaches to legal spend, risk management and dispute financing as they seek to pursue valuable claims while preserving liquidity.

• Smarter patents, smarter strategy: How AI analytics and legal finance are changing corporate IP monetization
  In this article, Katharine Wolanyk examines how AI is transforming the way companies identify and monetize intellectual property assets. Wolanyk explores how businesses can uncover hidden value within their patent portfolios, identify overlooked opportunities and develop more strategic approaches to IP monetization.

•         The First Brands collapse: What the bankruptcy reveals about modern credit markets
  The collapse and liquidation of First Brands has become a case study in how fraud allegations, competing creditor claims and distressed assets can quickly transform a restructuring into sprawling, high-stakes litigation. Emily Slater and Sam Kwak explore what the case reveals about modern bankruptcy proceedings and the increasingly important role legal finance plays in helping stakeholders pursue recoveries, manage litigation risk and unlock value in complex insolvencies.
  

• Behind the curtain of commercial arbitration: Christopher Bogart and former LCIA Director General Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof in conversation

  What happens behind the scenes often shapes the outcome of commercial arbitration as much as the formal process itself. Jeffery Commission and Christiane Deniger distill key insights from a conversation between Burford CEO Christopher Bogart and former LCIA Director General Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof on how growing demands for efficiency and procedural fairness are reshaping commercial arbitration and influencing the way parties resolve complex international disputes.