There are a few pretty well-established routes when leaving Big Law. Going in-house is one. Joining Robert Mueller's Russia investigation team is another that's in vogue. But more and more, it seems that joining the litigation funding industry is a popular “door number three.”

Take this week's news that London-based Vannin Capital has launched in New York City. It pulled in three converts from Big Law, all associate-level, from such venerated firms as Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Dentons.

The funder's other U.S.-based lawyer, in Washington, D.C., is Jeffery Commission—also a former senior associate at Freshfields. He joined in 2016.