Burford Capital, a UK- and New York-listed litigation finance company, is pushing ahead with its growth strategy including actively pursuing further investments in law firms, Vice Chair David Perla said.

The push comes as Burford seeks to broaden its role in the legal ecosystem while continuing to scale its core litigation finance business, Perla said.

“We’re clearly in growth mode,” Perla said, pointing to the group’s “Burford 2030” strategy, under which the company plans to double the size of its investment portfolio over the next five years.

Founded in 2009, Burford currently manages a group-wide litigation finance portfolio of around USD 7.5bn, positioning it as one of the largest players in the global litigation finance market.

That includes investments across commercial litigation, arbitration, antitrust, intellectual property and insolvency matters, primarily funded directly from Burford’s own balance sheet.

Unlike many competitors operating private funds, Burford’s status as a publicly traded firm allows it to operate on a balance-sheet model, deploying its own capital rather than relying on external fundraising.

He explained that this has insulated the company against headwinds facing the litigation finance sector.

“We have found we’re not encountering headwinds simply because we have permanent balance sheet capital and ready access to public capital markets and we make our own investment decisions without needing to engage LPs to draw down capital,” said Perla.

Core litigation finance will continue to dominate Burford’s strategy, with other investments, like law firms, expected to remain a minority of capital deployment.

“We don’t anticipate for it to ever be more than a minority,” he said, “but we do expect to continue increasing the amounts we spend.”

Geographically, Burford is targeting further growth in the US, the UK and continental Europe.

Asia-Pacific remains a priority, particularly Singapore, as well as Korea and Japan, while Latin America, including Mexico and Brazil, is also seen as a growth opportunity.

By sector, Perla highlighted antitrust, intellectual property and international arbitration as key areas of future demand.

“There’s a lot of harm that corporations have suffered, a lot of harm that remains unaddressed, and a lot of opportunity that remains untapped,” explained Perla.

Move beyond litigation finance

While litigation finance remains the dominant driver of returns, Burford is increasingly looking to deploy further capital beyond individual cases and into law firms themselves.

Part of that strategy involves taking minority stakes in law firms or related entities through structures that separate legal practice from business ownership.

Burford made an early move in 2020 with a minority investment in London-based asset recovery boutique PCB Litigation.

In September, it also took a minority stake in UK law firm consultancy Kindleworth via a Management Services Organisation (MSO), a structure that provides operational, strategic and back-office support to law firms.

The UK has been a natural starting point for such investments, as non-lawyer ownership of law firms has been permitted since the Legal Services Act 2007.

“The UK is uniquely permissive,” Perla said, contrasting it with the US, where non-lawyer ownership has traditionally been prohibited, although states such as Arizona and Utah have recently begun piloting alternative business structures.

He continued that equity investment in law firms remains untested at scale. “There’s no experience [on equity deals] at scale within the UK and there’s no experience at all in the US.”

However, US law firm McDermott Will & Schulte was said to be exploring a restructuring that could allow it to take external investment, a newswire reported last month.

Perla said Burford has had conversations with firms of various sizes, adding that any meaningful investment into a firm of McDermott’s size – generating USD 3bn in revenue – would likely require “hundreds of millions of dollars”, limiting the pool of viable investors.

“I’ve spoken to the chairs and managing partners of dozens of top firms,” he said. “Almost all of them are getting phone calls about equity.”

He stressed, however, that interest does not mean deals are imminent, particularly among elite US firms.

Law firms’ interest in external capital is being driven by a combination of the competition for talent, rising technology costs and succession planning pressures.

In the US, large firms often retain star partners through guaranteed compensation packages that can reach USD 8m-USD 15m annually, he said.

“If some of that money is instead held in an MSO as equity that vests over time, there is a disincentive to leave,” Perla said, adding that such structures can also address partner retirements.

Technology investment is another major factor, particularly for mid-market firms competing against Magic Circle and top US firms with far deeper spending power.

“When you get outside the very top tier, it becomes much harder to compete at the high end on technology,” he said.

“We are very open about the fact that we want to be investing in law firms themselves and MSOs that help law firms grow,” he said.

Burford’s strategy comes amid continued consolidation across the global legal sector.

Last year saw the creation of A&O Shearman, while 2025 has already delivered a string of transatlantic tie-ups, including Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, McDermott Will & Schulte, with Ashurst-Perkins Coie and Taylor Wessing’s tie-up with Winston & Strawn set to go live in 2026.

When asked if there is an intersection between consolidation and tapping external capital, Perla said: “If firms have all the capital they need to keep their people, maybe you don’t need to merge. You can just go poach – sports teams don’t merge, they poach.”

That said, he added that many firms will still pursue mergers to extend and strengthen their capabilities across the globe.

Alongside direct law firm investments, Burford is also making secondary investments in businesses that facilitate law firm growth, for example in legal tech.

As of mid-afternoon today, Burford Capital’s shares were trading at GBP 684.00 pence, giving it a market cap of GBP 1.5bn.