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Leading US firm Pogust Millrood merges into global firm PGMBM

By John Freund |

Leading US mass tort and personal injury firm Pogust Millrood is to merge into the rapidly expanding international operation of global firm PGMBM.

Pogust Millrood LLC, one of the leading mass tort and personal injury firms in the US, will merge with sister firm, global powerhouse PGMBM, as of today (01 December 2021).

The merger will see the existing Pogust Millrood operation incorporated into the rapidly expanding PGMBM organisation, with a US operation that will now include offices in Philadelphia and Miami. Globally, PGMBM now boasts over 100 lawyers and 500 staff in countries including the US, the UK (London, Liverpool and Edinburgh), the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Brazil (São Paulo and Belo Horizonte).

Pogust Millrood was founded in 2005 and for the last 16 years has focused on mass tort and consumer class actions. In 2010, the firm was named one of the top Plaintiffs’ Product Liability Firms of the Year by Law360. The award recognised Pogust Millrood as one of the top firms of the year garnering “substantial verdicts against pharmaceutical heavyweights” and obtaining “multi-million dollar verdicts for their clients”.

Pogust Millrood was class counsel and instrumental in the $1.15billion Pigford II settlement, where it assisted thousands of African-American farmers in claims that the US federal government had discriminated against them in applications to participate in agricultural programs. The firm played a critical role in the $1.4billion dollar settlement for victims of devastating side effects from the Stryker metal-on-metal Rejuvenate Modular-Neck and ABG II Modular-Neck hip implants. It is also currently lead counsel in the Pennsylvania-wide opioid litigation pending in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, helping deliver a settlement that could provide $1billion to affected communities.

PGMBM is a partnership between British, American and Brazilian lawyers passionate about championing justice for the victims of wrongdoing by large corporations. The firm is at the cutting edge of international consumer claims, including leading group cases against:

  • Mercedes, Volkswagen, and other automotive firms over diesel emissions scandals

  • British Airways and easyJet in cases related to breaches of personal data

  • Several of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies over the harmful risks associated with their drugs and medical devices

PGMBM is also a leader in environmental litigation, leading proceedings on behalf of over 200,000 victims of two major Brazilian tragedies – the 2015 Mariana Dam disaster and the 2019 Brumadinho Dam disaster, litigating against mining giant BHP and German technical services firm TÜV SÜD respectively.

Harris Pogust, Pogust Millrood Partner and Chairman of PGMBM, said: “Over the last 15 years, we have developed Pogust Millrood into one of the top mass tort firms in the US. We have helped defend the rights of those who cannot defend themselves against the misdeeds of big business.

“Not long ago, I had the opportunity to start a sister firm, PGMBM, with an amazing group of lawyers, including an amazing barrister, Tom Goodhead, and trail-blazing Brazilian lawyers Tomás Mousinho and Pedro Martins.

“In four years we have grown PGMBM into a firm with more than 500 employees and counting across several countries. I am beyond proud of the work we are doing and will do in the future, representing the oppressed and those whose access to justice is difficult.

“Environmental tragedies, human rights violations and personal harm inflicted by some of the world’s largest corporations. The credo of PGMBM is to find justice for these people no matter how far we have to go to obtain that justice.

“As with anything in life people and law firms grow and change. This merger is the next step in that cycle. Now is the time to bring our amazing team at Pogust Millrood under the PGMBM umbrella and share our joint experiences and knowledge to help those in need of our assistance not just in the US but across the globe.”

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Darrow Names Mathew Keshav Lewis As Chief Revenue Officer & US General Manager

By John Freund |

Darrow, the leading AI-powered justice intelligence platform, today announced the appointment of Mathew Keshav Lewis as its first Chief Revenue Officer and US General Manager. Lewis brings over 20 years of experience driving revenue and growth for high-profile legal and technology companies – including SaaS platform Dealpath, alternative investment platform Yieldstreet, and legal services pioneer Axiom Law – and will be responsible for helping Darrow scale as it continues an accelerated growth trajectory. 

"Mathew's arrival at Darrow opens enterprise-level deals to all plaintiff law firms, previously accessible only to a select few,” said Evyatar Ben Artzi, CEO and Co-Founder of Darrow. “His expertise from YieldStreet and Axiom empowers our partners to leverage AI, driving unprecedented growth and innovation.” 

Lewis, who will be based in Darrow’s New York headquarters, joins Darrow after serving as the first Chief Revenue Officer of Dealpath, a real estate deal management platform. He also previously held the role of Chief Revenue Officer and GM, Investments at Yieldstreet, where he drove record revenue and growth for the investment platform. 

“I’m delighted to join a team of tremendously talented individuals at Darrow, who have already disrupted the legal technology space and forged the path ahead,” said Mathew Keshav Lewis, Chief Revenue Officer & US General Manager of Darrow. “I am inspired by Darrow’s progress to date, and I look forward to working alongside Darrow’s growing team to expand the company’s footprint.”

This announcement comes at a period of rapid growth for the company, which completed its $35 million Series B funding round last year. Darrow currently works on active litigation valued over $10 billion across legal domains such as privacy, consumer protection, and antitrust. 

About Darrow: Founded in 2020, Darrow is a LegalTech company on a mission to fuel law firm growth and deliver justice for victims of class and mass action lawsuits. Darrow's AI-powered justice intelligence platform leverages generative AI and world-class legal experts and technologists to uncover egregious violations across legal domains spanning privacy and data breach, consumer protection, securities and financial fraud, environment, and employment. Darrow is based out of New York City and Tel Aviv. For more information, visit: darrow.ai. 

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Announcements Commercial

Omni Bridgeway Releases Investment Portfolio Report for 3Q24

By John Freund |

Omni Bridgeway Limited (ASX: OBL) (Omni Bridgeway, OBL, Group) announces the key investment performance metrics for the three months ended 31 March 2024 (3Q24, Quarter) and for the financial year to date (FYTD).

Summary

  • Investment income of A$296 million FYTD; A$56 million provisionally attributable to OBL.
  • 23 full completions, 17 partial completions FYTD, with an overall multiple on invested capital (MOIC) of2.0x.
  • A$333 million of new commitments FYTD with a corresponding A$447 million in new fair value, on track to achieve our A$625 million target.
  • Pricing remains at improved levels, up 32% for the FYTD compared to FY23.
  • Strong pipeline, with agreed term sheets outstanding for an estimated A$212 million in new commitments.
  • OBL cash and receivables of A$101 million plus A$60 million in undrawn debt at 31 March 2024.
  • A$4.4 billion of possible estimated portfolio value (EPV) in completions over the next 12 months. 
  • Further simplification and enhancement of our disclosures as announced at the Annual General Meeting, comprising non-IFRS OBL-only financials and non-IFRS fair value on a portfolio basis and OBL-only basis.
  • These new disclosures and metrics, as well as a valuation framework for our existing book and platform, were presented at our investor day on 27 March 2024.

Refer to https://omnibridgeway.com/investors/investor-day.

Key metrics and developments for the Quarter

Income and completions

  • Investment income of A$296 million generated from A$193 million income recognised and A$103 million income yet to be recognised (IYTBR), with A$56 million provisionally attributable to OBL FYTD (excluding management and performance fees). 
  • During the Quarter, 11 full completions and 11 partial completions (excluding IYTBR), resulting in 23 full completions and 17 partial completions (excluding IYTBR) FYTD, and one secondary market transaction, with a FYTD overall MOIC of 2.0x.

New commitments

  • Our stated targets for FY24 include A$625 million in new commitments or equivalent value, prioritising value over volume to reflect potential for improved pricing of new commitments.
  • FYTD new commitments of A$333 million at 31 March 2024 (from matters that were newly funded, conditionally approved or had increased investment opportunities). 
  • The fair value associated with these commitments is $447million, 72% of the full year value generation target.
  • Pipeline of 37 agreed exclusive term sheets, representing approximately A$212 million in investment opportunities, which if converted into funded investments is a further 34% of our FY24 commitments target.  
  • In addition to the regular new commitments to investments in the existing funds FYTD, an additional A$11.5 million of external co-fundings were secured for these investments to manage fund concentration limits. OBL will be entitled to management fees as well as performance fees on such external co-funding.

Portfolio review

  • A$4.4 billion of EPV is assessed to possibly complete in the 12 months following the end of the quarter. This 12 month rolling EPV is based on investments which are subject to various stages of (anticipated) settlement discussions or for which an award or a judgment is expected. All or only part of these may actually complete during the 12 month period.
  • We anticipate replacing these final EPV metrics with fair value metrics by the end of this financial year.

Cash reporting and financial position

  • At 31 March 2024, the Group held A$100.7 million in cash and receivables (A$62.8 million in OBL balance sheet cash, A$2.0 million in OBL balance sheet receivables and A$35.9 million of OBL share of cash and receivables within Funds) plus access to a further A$60 million in debt.
  • In aggregate, we have approximately A$161 million to meet operational needs, interest payments, and fund investments before recognising any investment completions, secondary market sales, management and transaction fees, and associated fund performance fees.
  • Post Quarter-end and as per the date of this report, in anticipation of the expiry of the availability period of the debt facility, OBL has drawn down the A$60 million in undrawn debt and received the funds.

Investor day

The investor day presentation and Q&A which took place on 27 March 2024 can be viewed at https://omnibridgeway.com/investors/investor-day.

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Carpentum Capital Launches Aurigon Litigation Risk Consulting (LRC)

By John Freund |

The team around former Carpentum Capital has launched AURIGON LITIGATION RISK CONSULTING (LRC), a litigation funding intermediary based in Switzerland with a special focus on Latin America. 

Founder and Managing Director Dr. Detlef A. Huber comments: ”AURIGON LRC is combining two worlds, litigation finance and insurance. Both areas are increasingly overlapping. Insurers offer ever more litigation risk transfer products and funders recur to insurance to hedge their risks. Hence complexity and advisory requirements are increasing, especially in still developing markets like Latin America. With our team of lawyers and former re/insurance executives trained in Latin America, the US, UK and Europe we are perfectly suited to advice our clients in any stage of the funding process or in related insurance matters. Our goal is to become the preferred partner for litigation and arbitration funding projects out of Latin American jurisdictions and I am looking forward to this new adventure.”

ABOUT AURIGON

AURIGON Advisors Ltd. is operating as re/insurance consultancy since 2011 with a special focus on dispute resolution and auditing. With AURIGON LRC an intermediary for litigation funding has been launched servicing our clients out of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Switzerland in Spanish, English, Portuguese and German. With our experience setting up the first Swiss litigation fund dedicated to Latin America (founded 2018), and in the insurance advisory area (since 2011), we are bringing together knowledge of processes and mindsets of the funding and the insurance world. 

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