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Law Finance Group
Law Finance Group was founded in 1994 by Jamie Stockham and David Kerko, two structured-finance practitioners who identified an underserved niche: providing...
Law Finance Group
Law Finance Group was founded in 1994 by Jamie Stockham and David Kerko, two structured-finance practitioners who identified an underserved niche: providing capital to commercial litigants who could not or would not fund protracted legal battles on their own. The firm emerged well before the litigation-finance asset class gained institutional acceptance, making it one of the longest-running operators in a market that has since attracted dedicated funds, hedge funds, and sovereign wealth allocators. LFG deploys non-recourse financing across a wide spectrum of commercial disputes — antitrust, patent infringement, breach of contract, and international arbitration — as well as mass-tort dockets. The firm structures its investments as debt claims against future settlement proceeds or court awards, meaning it earns a negotiated multiple of its deployed capital only if the case succeeds. For law firms, LFG's capital can fund single matters or entire plaintiff-side dockets; the firm has publicly confirmed backing cases against major corporations and across multiple jurisdictions. Geographic exposure spans the United States, with select matters touching international arbitration venues including London and The Hague. From a structural standpoint, LFG operates as a private fund manager rather than a single-family office or bank. Its San Rafael headquarters is complemented by an investment presence in New York and a wealth-management registration in Delray Beach, Florida. The firm's longevity — three decades through multiple credit cycles — distinguishes it from the flood of litigation-fund entrants launched after 2010. In September 2023, the industry saw a wave of capital-raising and consolidation activity, but LFG has maintained its reputation for disciplined case selection and relatively concentrated portfolio construction. A genuine structural differentiator is LFG's position as a pioneer in an asset class whose returns remain fundamentally uncorrelated to equity markets and interest-rate cycles. The firm underwrites legal merit, not borrower creditworthiness, which creates a return stream governed by judicial timelines and settlement dynamics rather than macroeconomics. Unlike large multi-strategy funds that treat litigation finance as a small sleeve, LFG's entire mandate revolves around the diligence and underwriting of legal claims — a specialization that has allowed it to endure as the asset class matured from a niche curiosity into a recognized institutional allocation.
General information
Firm type
Bank / Wealth / Trust
Year founded
1994
AUM
Undisclosed
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
San Rafael
Corporate office
San Rafael, CA, United States
Additional offices
New York, NY · Delray Beach, FL
Principals
Jamie Stockham
Co-Founder & Managing Principal
David Kerko
Co-Founder & Managing Principal
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Law Finance Group?
Co-founders Jamie Stockham and David Kerko oversee the firm's investment committee and case-selection process. Stockham's background is in structured finance, while Kerko brings additional expertise in legal-risk underwriting. The firm maintains a dedicated team of in-house attorneys and financial analysts who assess each matter before capital is committed.
How does Law Finance Group source its deal flow?
LFG relies heavily on relationships with top-tier plaintiff law firms, commercial-litigation boutiques, and repeat referrals from attorneys who have previously worked with the firm. The firm also receives inquiries from corporations seeking monetization of pending claims, though its sweet spot remains single-matter and portfolio financing for law firms managing complex dockets.
What types of legal claims does LFG finance?
The firm focuses on commercial litigation — antitrust, patent, trade-secrets, and breach-of-contract disputes — plus mass-tort claims and international arbitration. It avoids personal-injury auto claims, small consumer disputes, and divorce-related litigation, concentrating instead on matters where the potential damages and legal-merit profile justify institutional underwriting.
Is Law Finance Group structured as a single family office or a third-party manager?
LFG is a third-party investment manager that raises capital from institutions, family offices, and accredited individuals through private funds. Despite its early-mover status, it operates as a specialized credit firm, not a proprietary family vehicle. The Delray Beach wealth-management registration reflects ancillary service activities, not the core litigation-finance mandate.
What investment structure does LFG use — direct loans, equity participation, or both?
LFG primarily deploys capital through non-recourse debt facilities secured against a plaintiffs' potential recovery. In select matters, the firm may negotiate a hybrid structure that includes an equity-like upside component above the base multiple. All structures are tailored to the jurisdiction and the specific case budget.
How does litigation finance generate returns uncorrelated to public markets?
Case settlements and court awards are driven by judicial calendars and legal-merit resolution, not by equity-market movements or interest-rate policy. LFG's portfolio spans multiple jurisdictions and case types, and while individual matters carry binary risk, diversified exposure to large commercial claims historically shows low correlation to traditional asset classes.
What is Law Finance Group's relationship with the law firms it funds?
LFG is a capital provider, not a law firm or a fee-sharing partner. It does not direct litigation strategy, select counsel, or influence settlement decisions — those remain the purview of the plaintiff and their attorneys. The firm's underwriting does, however, involve deep diligence on the legal team, jurisdiction, and anticipated defense strategy before committing capital.
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