Based in the UK, US and Australia, our world-class team delivers a unique blend of legal, financial and business acumen.
We typically use our own world-class team of experts when assessing investment opportunities and deploy our own funds, rather than relying on external experts or capital, thus speeding up analysis and decision-making.
Having reviewed thousands of opportunities since 2010, we are able to assess potential investments promptly. Whether it is analysing serious breakdowns in ESG in order to identify opportunities for collective engagement, reviewing large commercial claims that would benefit from our funding or working with businesses and individuals to identify the best way to protect their IP, we move quickly.
All of our potential investments are scrutinised by our Investment Advisory Panel (IAP) which brings together senior figures from the world of law, with direct experience in our areas of focus – escalated collective engagement, large commercial disputes and the global protection of IP. This unique in-house resource sets us apart: we don’t rely on outside counsel to take decisions.
Once a decision to invest has been made, our finance team works closely with stakeholders to ensure a fair and transparent agreement is drawn up and executed.
Our Executive Team
Yves Bonavero
Chairman
London
Yves was born and educated in Paris. He holds a First Class Honours degree in Philosophy and German, as well as an MA, from Oxford University. Yves founded Woodsford in 2010.
Steven Friel
Chief Executive Officer
London
Steven Friel is a leader in the law and business of ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance), and one of the most well-established litigation finance professionals in the international market.
Charlie Morris
Chief Investment Officer,
EMEA & APAC
London
Charlie is at the cutting edge of developments in ESG litigation, leading Woodsford’s ground-breaking efforts to hold listed businesses to account for serious breaches of ESG standards.
Robin M. Davis
Chief Investment Officer, US
New York
Robin leads Woodsford’s underwriting and investment team in the US. A former litigator and experienced funder, she prioritizes investment in disputes where Woodsford can level the playing field and instil accountability by defendants while generating solid returns.
Mark Spiteri
Finance & Commercial Director
London
Mark is a founder director of Woodsford and one of the world’s most experienced litigation finance professionals. He is an expert on ESG matters, helping to assess the impact of breakdowns in ESG at publicly listed businesses.
Jonathan Barnes
Chief Operating Officer & GC
London
Jonathan co-founded Woodsford in 2010. As one of the world’s most experienced litigation funding professionals, he serves on the boards of both the International Legal Finance Association (ILFA) and the Association of Litigation Funders (ALF).
Jordan Howells
Senior Investment Officer
London
Jordan is a barrister with fourteen years of experience practising in the ‘white collar’ crime fields of fraud, international anti-bribery and corruption, investigations, business ethics advisory and regulatory on the one hand, and public international law on the other.
Hugh Tait
Senior Investment Officer
London
Hugh is an Australian-qualified lawyer who has worked on a diverse range of complex, large-scale litigation and arbitration matters in both Australia and England, with a particular focus on ESG-related class/collective claims.
Alex Hickson
Senior Investment Officer
Brisbane
Alex is an Australian-qualified lawyer who oversees Woodsford’s funded litigation in Australia. Alex is passionate about the role Woodsford plays in identifying corporate misbehaviour and assisting those who are impacted.
Dan Kesack
Senior Investment Officer
New York
Dan is an experienced patent litigation attorney who has advised clients in many different forums, including federal and state court, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and the U.S. International Trade Commission.
Clare Owen
Director and Head of Origination
Woodsford Australia
Brisbane
Clare is a dual qualified lawyer admitted to practise in both the UK and Australia with over 20 years’ experience as a litigator – initially in the UK and then in Australia.
Mitesh Modha
Business Development & Origination Director
London
Mitesh plays a key role in Woodsford’s efforts to hold big business to account; building relationships with those that require litigation funding, whether that’s aggrieved stakeholders affected by ESG breaches or their lawyers.
Amar Singh Mann
Senior Legal Counsel
London
Amar is a UK-qualified lawyer with over a decade of experience working on a broad range of cross-border and domestic corporate and commercial matters. Previously, Amar was Legal Counsel at Moneysupermarket Group.
Emily Woolcott
Investment Officer
London
Emily is an Australian-qualified lawyer who has experience in a diverse range of commercial litigation matters. She is focused on continuing to fulfil Woodsford’s commitment to ESG matters and delivering access to justice.
David Haughan
Investment Officer
London
David is an English-qualified lawyer and was previously a litigator at Hogan Lovells, where he acquired strong experience of ESG group litigation in the automotive and agribusiness sectors, as well as high-value life sciences litigation.
Muhammad Arayne
Investment Officer
London
Muhammad is an Investment Officer based in London. An Australian qualified lawyer, he has experience in a diverse range of class action and general litigation matters including cases involving fraud, misconduct, negligence, racial discrimination and contractual disputes.
Deborah Mazer
Investment Officer
New York
Deborah Mazer is a U.S. lawyer and former litigator with a broad range of trial and appellate experience. Her expertise includes bankruptcy, complex commercial, mass tort, securities, tax controversy, and IP litigation.
Cody Nguyen
Investment Officer
Brisbane
Cody is an Australian qualified lawyer responsible for overseeing Woodsford’s funded litigation in Australia. Cody’s legal background comprises primarily of experience in class action and insurance litigation.
Alex Lempiner
Executive Vice President & GC (US)
Philadelphia
Alex is regarded as a thought leader on the ESG issues facing the US legal and capital markets. With an unwavering commitment to these values, Alex oversees corporate and legal matters affecting Woodsford in the US.
Daniel Littman
Commercial & Operations Manager
London
Daniel leads the commercial negotiation for all Woodsford’s investments globally, structuring bespoke deals to help clients gain access to justice and gain recompense against big business and Big Tech.
Ryan Schultz
VP, Business Development
Minneapolis
Ryan is a US lawyer with significant experience helping clients litigate claims across the US and the world. He works with claimants to identify opportunities for investment, including claims holding corporations accountable for their failures in ESG.
Brendan Dyer
VP, Business Development
Boston
Brendan Dyer joined Woodsford in January 2022 from Goodwin Procter, where he led the firm’s strategic pricing initiatives for both the IP Litigation and Complex Litigation and Dispute Resolution practices.
Bob Koneck
Director of Litigation Finance and Legal Counsel
Minneapolis
Bob joined Woodsford to help increase access to justice. He focuses on identifying cases appropriate for litigation funding and is especially interested in helping financially strapped plaintiffs take on wealthier adversaries.
Steven Savage
Head of Marketing
London
Steven is passionate about holding big business to account, delivering access to justice to those individuals and companies who have been wronged and changing long-term corporate behaviour to the benefit of wider society.
Ioan Mortimer
Investment Associate
London
Ioan has a key role in the origination and organisation stages of Woodsford’s cases with a particular focus on securities litigation including cases resulting from serious ESG failings at publicly listed companies.
Karen Espinoza
Investment Associate
London
Karen assists with the creation of securities class actions’ bookbuilds and liaises with a variety of institutional investors, helping them recover losses as a result of serious ESG failings at publicly listed companies.
Michael Abdul
Investment Associate
London
While working at Woodsford, Michael has worked on a range of security actions, providing institutional investors with quantitative analysis that assists with the recovery of compensation from publicly listed companies, following breakdowns in ESG standards.
Oscar Moore
Investment Associate
London
Oscar supports large groups of shareholders on Woodsford’s securities actions. This involves identifying breakdowns in ESG standards at publicly listed companies, providing shareholders with analysis on potential eligibility and guiding them through the practicalities.
Marta Gispert
Financial Controller
London
Marta is a Qualified Chartered Accountant (ACCA), who enjoys being part of an ESG-focused business that holds big business to account and delivers access to justice, matching her own values with those of Woodsford.
Amenda Wong
Commercial Accountant
London
Amenda is a Qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA) with a range of financial experience, ranging from Audit, Management Reporting, Financial Planning and Analysis. She studied Natural Sciences BSc at Durham University, and gained her ACA qualification in 2014.
Yoav Nebenzal
Company Accountant
London
Yoav is a Qualified accountant (CPA) with a wide experience in financial and assurance services.
Prior to joining Woodsford, Yoav worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for 10 years.
Alba Baeza
Assistant Accountant
London
Alba is an Assistant Accountant based in London. She is a qualified Spanish Lawyer and studying towards completing her AAT/CIMA qualifications. Prior to joining, she gained experience in different Finance roles in the Hospitality/Retail industry.
