Our investment criteria
- Senior secured three-year credit facility
- Transaction sizes ranging from $250k to $10mm
- Law firm borrowers are sustainably operated and growing
- Law firm borrowers have well-established track records of success
- Law firm borrowers are managed by lawyers who are ethical advocates for their clients and communities
Execute a mutual confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement that requires the parties to safeguard any sensitive information exchanged between them
Perform credit due diligence on the law firm and its equity partners
Conduct in-house due diligence on the law firm’s overall record of success with respect to specific practice areas
Conduct in-house due diligence on the underlying legal matters on the law firm’s docket, and when necessary, engage in confidential consultations with our advisory network of industry leaders
Assess levels of insurance coverage and defendants’ creditworthiness to understand collection risk with respect to the law firm’s underlying legal claims
Perform a sustainability assessment of the law firm to determine its leadership team’s values-alignment and commitment to a stakeholder-centric business philosophy
Submit a term sheet to the law firm that highlights the proposed terms for a potential transaction
Execute definitive legal agreements with the law firm and fund the transaction
Our investment process
Execute a mutual confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement that requires the parties to safeguard any sensitive information exchanged between them
Perform credit due diligence on the law firm and its equity partners
Conduct in-house due diligence on the law firm’s overall record of success with respect to specific practice areas
Conduct in-house due diligence on the underlying legal matters on the law firm’s docket, and when necessary, engage in confidential consultations with our advisory network of industry leaders
Assess levels of insurance coverage and defendants’ creditworthiness to understand collection risk with respect to the law firm’s underlying legal claims
Perform a sustainability assessment of the law firm to determine its leadership team’s values-alignment and commitment to a stakeholder-centric business philosophy
Submit a term sheet to the law firm that highlights the proposed terms for a potential transaction
Execute definitive legal agreements with the law firm and fund the transaction
Our flexible investments allow law firms to operate efficiently and grow via the following
Increased Marketing Spend
Prospective clients are more likely to seek legal advice from the law firms they recognize. Many of our law firm partners utilize our capital to launch marketing campaigns designed to increase brand recognition and loyalty within the communities they serve. By launching strategic marketing campaigns through print, televised and digital media, law firms may significantly increase their revenues through enhanced client recognition and interest.
Operational Efficiency
Our capital enables law firms to compete in today’s legal market by utilizing operational efficiency to provide best-in-class legal services on behalf of their clients. Our law firm partners often utilize our capital to hire exceptional attorneys and support staff to address increased client demands. Our law firm partners may also utilize our capital to invest in premium operational infrastructure, such as case management programs, docketing software, legal research databases and e-discovery platforms.
Enhanced Trial Presentation
When our law firm partners are at trial, they have one objective: to win at all costs. Trial presents countless uncertainties, and our law firm partners understand the value of an exceptional trial presentation, regardless of cost. With our capital, our law firm partners utilize the best trial preparation resources available to them. This includes the retention of skilled expert witnesses, jury research consultants, and trial graphics vendors.
Geographic Expansion
One of the best ways for law firms to increase their revenue is to go where the work is. Some of our law firm partners utilize our capital to relocate to communities where there is higher demand for their specific expertise. Others will utilize our capital to expand their existing practices by venturing into new markets through satellite offices or joint venturing with co-counsel in underserved markets where existing demand for legal services has been identified.
Enhanced Cash Flow Management
Our goal is to enable our law firm partners to devote their time and energy to successful advocacy for their clients. In other words, we want the lawyers we partner with to worry about their clients’ claims –not their firms’ cashflow. To realize this objective, we work with our law firm partners to develop customized financing plans to enable the firm to pay off its existing debts, cover overhead and increase partner profits.
The following principles are at the core of our relationship with our law firm partners
Confidentiality
Confidentiality is exceptionally important to us. We are committed to safeguarding any nonpublic information that is provided to us by our law firm partners, including any confidential business or personal information related to the firm, its lawyers or its clients. We utilize physical, technical, and administrative safeguards to ensure the non-disclosure of all confidential or sensitive information obtained from any source.
Preservation of Attorney-Client Privilege
We understand the critical importance of preserving the confidentiality of any-and-all communications exchanged between attorneys and their clients. We also understand the importance of protecting from discovery any materials prepared by an attorney in anticipation of litigation. As such, we work closely with our law firm partners to ensure privileges and protections are never waived during our collaboration.
Law Firm Sovereignty and Independence
The lawyers who receive our financing are in the best position to advocate on behalf of their clients’ best interests. Because we have implemented robust underwriting procedures on the front end, we do not micromanage the collateral litigations of the law firms we finance. We will never require our partners to obtain our input or approvals at any phase of the cases they manage, including in settlement discussions or at trial.
Collaborative Approach
We take pride in our collaborative approach to problem solving with the law firms we finance and the lawyers we work with. We utilize our backgrounds in litigation and finance to help our partners achieve their business goals and pursue their clients’ objectives. We enjoy working with the law firms we finance and are as “hands-on” or as “hands-off” as our law firm partners need us to be.