A group action firm described as the legal sector’s first ‘unicorn’ has announced a $552m (£454m) financing deal from a US fund. The secured loan, from emerging markets investment manager Gramercy, will fund high profile environmental group actions including the Fundão dam case, which is set to go to trial in London next year. 

According to the announcement, the 'investment partnership' is the largest worldwide investment in a law firm and largest single investment from Gramercy since its foundation in 1998.

Pogust Goodhead's group claim successes include the 2021 settlement in a claim brought against British Airways over a data breach and a settlement with Volkswagen over NOx emissions in 2022. The new funding will also support 'dieselgate' actions against Mercedes and Volvo in the UK later this year.

Since the firm's foundation in 2018, Pogust Goodhead has followed a business trajectory 'more like a fintech start up than a traditional law firm', the announcemement said. It notes that the 100-partner London-based firm has been described as the sector's first 'unicorn' - a term for startups valued at more than $1bn. It claims to represent 3 million clients across the world. 

Connecticut-based Gramercy Fund Management describes itself as 'a leading capital provider to impactful sectors across emerging markets'. City commentators observed that the structure of the Pogust Goodhead deal avoids the concerns raised by the Supreme Court's PACCAR ruling on the enforceability of damages-based agreements.  

Pogust Goodhead managing partner Tom Goodhead said the deal with give the firm the financial power to take on some of the world's largest companies. 'This investment will not only ensure we bring our existing cases home, but we are putting global corporate giants on notice that we have the financial muscle to take them on for their wrongdoing.

'This is a capitalist solution to a capitalist problem,' he said. 'We are not trying to destroy these companies. We are taking them on for corporate misconduct, anti-competitive behaviour, corporate harm and misuse of the environment. The cases we are taking will set the bar for how serious we are as a global society, about ensuring that big business is held accountable and upholds its obligations and responsibilities to the communities in which it operates.'

 

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