Third-party litigation funding broker Calunius Capital has begun investing in its own cases, Gazette sister publication Litigation Funding will reveal this week, amid a flurry of activity in the litigation funding sector.

Calunius said it is investing in litigation in conjunction with funders that it has already sourced for the claimant.

Chairman Leslie Perrin said that the funders providing the supplementary capital for Calunius are ‘mainly players outside the disclosed litigation funding universe, and as such represent significant additional capacity to the market’.

Perrin said of the decision to invest: ‘The funders like it because they want to see you put your money where your mouth is. If you don’t invest, and they have asked you to, that tends to suggest a lack of confidence.’

He said that because Calunius charges a percentage of the final damages award as its brokerage fee, ‘it is just a short step to making a small investment alongside the funder and cementing the relationship.’

Meanwhile, third-party litigation funder Burford Capital floated on the London Stock Exchange last week, raising £80m. Burford became the second third-party funder to list in the UK after Juridica Investments raised £80m in December 2007.

Burford will focus on US commercial disputes and international arbitration in the short term, but Christopher Bogart, principal at Burford and former general counsel at Time Warner, said that the company is not ruling out UK litigation in the longer term. He said that he and fellow Burford principal Selvyn Seidel, formerly senior partner at US firm Latham & Watkins, had jointly invested $2.6m (£1.6m) in the business.

In a further development, City firm Mishcon de Reya launched its ‘MISHCON PROTECT’ litigation funding product at the end of September, while Manchester firm Pannone launched its ‘Advantage’ product at the start of this month. Both offer third-party funding as well as after-the-event insurance and conditional fee agreements. National firm Addleshaw Goddard launched its product ‘CONTRO£’ in June last year.

This month’s Litigation Funding contains the first-ever table of third-party funders and brokers to help solicitors seeking funding for their cases. The October issue lists 15 companies currently active in the market, offering funding from £60,000.