Lambert: Tangible incentive for law firms
Litigation funder Burford Capital has set aside a further $150m (£115m) for cases led by women or ethnic minority lawyers, or where clients are represented by female or minority-owned law firms.
Burford said this brings the total earmarked for its Equity Project to over $300m, with almost $170m committed so far to fund 19 cases since the project was launched in 2018.
Akima Paul Lambert, a partner at Hogan Lovells and a UK champion of the project, told Legal Futures that people had been saying there was a need for more diversity in litigation but there had been “very little incentive on law firms and clients to actually walk the talk”.
Ms Lambert, who is dual-qualified in the UK and US, went on: “This provides a tangible incentive for law firms to use more women and people of diverse heritage to lead their cases.
“In law firms, many relationships are led by legacy, a client will have a relationship with a certain partner, and it is very difficult for those with different characteristics to form or continue relationships.
“Burford is willing to put its money where its mouth is and stand behind women and people of colour.”
Burford said the 19 Equity Project cases had received an average of $8.9m in funding so far, “indicating that these are large, complex litigation and arbitration matters”.
Fourteen of them have been led by female lawyers, three by ethnic minority lawyers and two by both a female and an ethnic minority lawyer. None have involved clients represented by female or minority-owned law firms.
Ms Lambert said it was “really important” Burford included leadership of cases as a criteria to avoid “tokenisation of diversity”; law firms used to lead pitches with people of colour, but ensure the work was “actually done” by other lawyers.
She said there was “only a very small pool” of law firms owned by women or people of colour, which explained why none had featured so far in Equity Project cases.
“I’ve seen many women start litigation or arbitration boutiques in the last two or three years, so I’m hopeful.”
Burford launched the Equity Project in 2018, with $50m for cases led by female lawyers. Phase two in 2021 added a further $100m for cases led by female or ethnic minority lawyers. In another change, it was decided that a percentage of the proceeds from successful cases would go to “organisations that promote diversity in the business of law”.
Ms Lambert, who became a UK champion for the project last month, said she had been mentioning to clients that she could apply for Equity Project funding.
The challenge was finding a case “where all of the criteria are met” but she hoped to have her first Equity Project case next year, if not this.
Aviva Will, president of Burford Capital, added: “Clients appreciate the Equity Project as a tool to promote leadership from diverse backgrounds, and we hear directly from those who’ve been funded that it makes a difference in their careers.”
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