With contributions from leading experts, drawn from legal practice, the judiciary and academia, and edited by one of the most accomplished litigation funders in the international market, it covers the issues raised by Burford v Muddy Waters [2019].
Steven Friel is Chief Executive Officer at Woodsford, one of the most well-established litigation funders in the international market. Steven has repeatedly been ranked by independent directories as a leader in the field. Chambers and Partners, 2020: 'Steven Friel is ... praised for his hands-on approach and ability to work constructively on even the biggest and most complicated matters. He is very easy to deal with... He grasps the facts and the law extremely quickly. He is an extremely good resource for Woodsford - a great strategic thinker.' Chambers and Partners, 2019: 'He seems to have limitless energy to explore things, and he's extremely sharp.' Chambers and Partners, 2018: 'Steven Friel is very impressive. He has a razor sharp legal mind, is intellectually curious, and has strong business sense.'
Before joining Woodsford, Steven was a partner in the London office of international law firm Brown Rudnick. Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Steven was a partner in the London office of DAC Beachcroft, and practised from the London and New York offices of Debevoise & Plimpton. Steven is a law graduate of Cambridge University, and graduated top of his class with a Master of Laws degree in International Dispute Resolution from the University of London.
Anthony Sebok, Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University, New York
Professor Sebok is an expert on mass torts, litigation finance, comparative tort law, and legal philosophy. Before coming to Cardozo in 2007, he was the Centennial Professor of Law and the Associate Dean for Research at Brooklyn Law School where he taught for 15 years. He is the author of Legal Positivism in American Jurisprudence, and numerous articles and essays on legal finance and insurance law. His casebook, Tort Law: Responsibilities and Redress, which he co-authored with John Goldberg and Benjamin Zipursky, is used at several leading law schools. Professor Sebok was the Academic Co-Reporter, with W. Bradley Wendel, of the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20 Informational Report on Alternative Litigation Finance (2012).
David Capper is Reader in Law, Queen's University Belfast, UK.
Jonathan Barnes is Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel at Woodsford. Before leaving private practice, Jonathan enjoyed a successful 20-year career in the City of London as a transactional lawyer. In 2006 he joined longstanding client Woodsford Consulting - a business consultancy and Family Office of a wealthy European family - as a director and subsequently CEO. Jonathan co-founded Woodsford Litigation Funding in 2010 and has been central to its successful growth. Woodsford is a founder member of both the International Legal Finance Association and the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales and Jonathan serves on the Management Committee of the former and the Board of the latter.
David Siffert, New York University School of Law - Center on Civil Justice
David Siffert serves as Director of Research and Projects at the Center on Civil Justice at NYU School of Law, a centre dedicated to the study of the civil justice system in the United States and how it can continue to fulfill its purposes. Prior to joining the Center, Siffert was a civil litigator at Boies, Schiller & Flexner. Siffert clerked for Hon. Robert S. Smith, Associate Judge of the New York Court of Appeals, and Hon. Barbara S. Jones, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Siffert is an alumnus of New York University School of Law ('09) and the University of Chicago (AB '06).
