Litigation Finance Assessment — John H. Snyder PLLC
For family offices and sophisticated investors evaluating litigation as an investable asset class.

A disciplined underwriting review that tells you whether the risk has been priced in a form capital can trust.

Snyder applies the capital allocator's discipline to the litigator's understanding of the case — mapping proof, modeling damages, verifying collectability, and delivering a decision-ready underwriting file.

Underwriting
$25,000–$50,000
Fixed-fee engagement.
Timeline
10–15 Business Days
After intake and triage.

Sophisticated family offices are evaluating litigation as an investable asset class.

The challenge is not finding litigation opportunities — it is knowing which ones to trust. Litigation finance depends on analysis that is simultaneously rigorous on the law, honest on the facts, and financially disciplined on the risk.

Most litigation finance decisions are made by people who are either capital allocators or litigators — but not both. The result is systematic mispricing: overconfident legal assessments that discount capital risk, or financially disciplined models built on legal assumptions no experienced litigator would accept.

The underwriting file we deliver is what we would want to see if we were deploying the capital.

Five layers of risk. Each must be assessed and priced independently.

Gross Damages
Claimed exposure before discounting
$25,000,000
Liability Discount
Probability of establishing liability: 70%
$17,500,000
Quantum Discount
Jury or bench reduction on damages: 65%
$11,375,000
Duration & Illiquidity
12% discount rate, 2.5-year horizon
$8,508,500
Collectability
Assets, insurance, enforcement reality: 85%
$7,232,225
Settlement Probability
Expected settlement as % of value: 75%
$5,424,169
Expected Recovery · Illustrative
$5,424,169

All figures illustrative. The framework is applied to every matter we assess.

Four disciplines. Applied simultaneously.

Proof Analysis
What can actually be established at trial
Review of the underlying facts, available evidence, and key vulnerabilities. The question is not whether the claim is compelling — it is whether it is provable.
Damages Modeling
What a finder of fact will actually award
Independent assessment of damages quantum, the range of plausible outcomes, and the factors most likely to move the verdict up or down.
Collectability Review
What a judgment will actually produce
Assessment of the defendant's assets, insurance coverage, enforcement path, and jurisdictional risk. A judgment that cannot be collected is not a litigation asset.
Capital Structuring
How the investment should be structured
The underwriting file includes a proposed capital structure, return scenario analysis, and the terms on which this opportunity should be evaluated for investment.

The person who underwrites the case has tried cases like it.

John H. Snyder
Founding Principal · Trial Lawyer · Litigation Finance Advisor
John H. Snyder
Harvard Law School
Brown University · Phi Beta Kappa
Federal Clerkship · Proskauer Rose
Founder, Agnes Intelligence

Snyder underwrites litigation risk from the position of a first-chair trial lawyer who understands what juries do and what opposing counsel will actually mount. That is a different analysis than one produced by a capital allocator working from a legal summary.

Founder and CEO of Agnes Intelligence, which placed 4th among more than 1,000 entries in the IBM Watson Build competition. The computational sensemaking background directly informs how he models risk across systems with significant uncertainty.

Corporate & Structural Counsel
Thomas C. Sima
Duke Law (J.D. & LL.M., cum laude) · Shearman & Sterling, NY & HK · NY · FL · SDNY · EDNY
20+ years in securities, private equity, and complex commercial litigation across multiple jurisdictions. When a litigation asset implicates corporate structure, cross-border enforcement, or institutional complexity, Sima provides the analysis required to assess collectability and structure the capital deployment.

Engagements begin with a private triage conversation.

We evaluate whether the opportunity is one that warrants a full underwriting review. That conversation is confidential and without commitment. If we proceed, the full assessment is delivered within 10 to 15 business days.

We represent both sides of this market: family offices evaluating opportunities, and litigants or counsel preparing a matter for capital review.

An Early Conversation
Costs Nothing.

We engage family offices and sophisticated investors evaluating litigation opportunities, and litigants or counsel seeking to prepare a matter for capital review. Briefly describe the opportunity and where it currently stands. Do not send privileged or confidential information.

Email inquiry@jhs.nyc
We Are a Fit When
You are evaluating a litigation opportunity and need to know whether the risk has been priced in a form capital can trust.
We Are Not a Fit When
The matter has already been fully underwritten, capital is committed, and the engagement would be duplicative.
The Engagement
$25,000–$50,000 underwriting engagement. Full engagement: $100,000+ plus participation in recovery.