Headlining

Burford Capital the litigation finance behemoth wants not just to bankroll lawsuits but to buy stakes in actual U.S. law firms. The move isn’t your garden-variety PE play; it’s a direct challenge to the profession’s no-capital-external-to-the-firm orthodoxy.

Burford, under the ever-quotable Jonathan Molot, (pictured above) told the Financial Times he is floating a structure ripped from healthcare and accounting playbooks: split a law firm into two entities, a lawyer-owned practice handling client work, and a Managed Service Organization (MSO) holding assets and providing back‑office muscle in exchange for a cut. It’s a classic “external capital without violating ethics rules.”

A-List 2025: Munger reigns, Jenner rockets, and who actually moved the needle The American Lawyer’s A-List isn’t about who shouts the loudest about profits, blending money and meaning: revenue per lawyer, pro bono, associate satisfaction, racial inclusion, and women in the equity partnership. Get three or more of those humming and you move fast and