Katharine Wolanyk

Katharine Wolanyk is a Managing Director at Burford Capital, where she heads the global patent business. She leads Burford’s patent finance activities, overseeing the origination, underwriting and structuring of new financing opportunities, as well as the management of legal finance assets within Burford’s patent portfolio. Her background combines extensive experience in intellectual property, legal finance and corporate leadership, advising clients on patent monetization, litigation funding and strategic IP matters.

Katharine has received numerous industry recognitions, including Chambers Band 1 for IP litigation funding, IAM Strategy 300 and Lawdragon 100 Global Leaders in Legal Finance. She also served as a public company board director at Acacia Research Corporation, a member of the board of managers at the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago and a member of the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago Law School.

Prior to joining Burford in 2015, Katharine was president of Soverain Software, general counsel of an internet hosting services provider, senior vice president of corporate development at a publicly traded enterprise software company and a corporate attorney at Latham & Watkins. Before law school, she worked as a systems engineer at Hughes Aircraft Company, contributing to the radar system for the B-2 stealth bomber.

Katharine earned her JD from the University of Chicago Law School and a BS from Michigan State University.