ESG
ESG (Environmental Social Governance) is core to Therium’s purpose, providing an important philosophical underpinning for the existence and value of the legal finance industry.
Legal finance as an asset class is an ESG investment as the capital invested in cases, helps to support the rule of law by levelling the playing field and helping to ensure that meritorious cases are brought. Litigation is often the last resort to enforcing the law. However, it is lengthy and expensive and without funding, a large number of cases could not be brought.
Litigation funding also increases access to justice by ensuring that meritorious claims can be brought, even if the claimant lacks the necessary capital to pay the legal costs.
By helping to uphold the rule of law, litigation funding supports UN Sustainable Development Goal 16.
Legal finance helps to hold entities accountable for ESG breaches.
Litigation is at the ‘sharp end’ of enforcement, and it acts as deterrent to entities that might otherwise assume ESG risk.
ESG claims can address:
Environmental issues, such as emissions cases against corporates for breaking environmental law, e.g. Dieselgate claims.
Social issues, for example equal pay claims that demonstrate socially responsible investing.
Governance issues, such as securities litigation that aims to recover financial losses to investors following the inaccurate disclosure of financial or operational information to the market.
The legislative basis for ESG litigation already exists, allowing investors to take legal action if they have suffered a loss due to a breach in ESG compliance.
In addition to these high-profile cases, Therium also provides litigation funding for commercial arbitrations, which are confidential, such as investor state disputes, where Therium funds claims being brought by investors against states.
Funding this type of legal action helps to ensure that states are held accountable. This acts as a deterrent and ensures that international law is upheld, particularly in regions of the world where the rule of law and governance are weak.
Therium Access
Launched in 2019 to mark Therium’s 10th anniversary, Therium Access has invested almost £2m in access to justice by providing grants for cases, organisations and projects that could not otherwise be funded on a commercial basis. Therium Access is the first-of-its-kind initiative in the legal finance industry globally.
Find out more about Therium Access, the primary expression of Therium’s corporate and social responsibility programme.
Meet The Team
Our highly experienced investment team are committed to the Principles for Responsible Investment and the UN Global Compact, providing capital and support to cases that help to uphold ESG standards across the world.