Harbour Litigation Fund has strengthened its ranks with the appointment of Mr Justice Gavin Lightman.

Lightman, a retired High Court Judge, joined the third party litigation funder at the beginning of the year (1 January) as chairman of its investments committee, as part of a recruitment drive from the funder to bring in 'heavy hitters' from the UK legal profession.

Lightman succeeds finance specialist Martin Tonnby, who will remain on the investment committee, a body which has final approval over which cases the fund invests in.

Lightman was called to the Bar in 1963, appointed as Queen's Counsel in 1980 and became a High Court Judge in the Chancery Division in 1994. At Harbour he will work alongside head of litigation funding Susan Dunn and chief executive Brett Carron.

Carron commented: "Sir Gavin is an exceptional addition to our team and we are delighted that he has agreed to join us. His experience and expertise from a distinguished career brings new strength to our team and will undoubtedly increase our capacity and success. We believe his appointment is a very positive endorsement of third party funding and confirms our status as market leaders in our field."

Dunn said: "Collectively the Harbour team has funded 65 commercial cases, 12 of which were approved in 2009. Understanding of litigation funding in the legal market as a whole is fast changing, due in no small part to the financial pressures of the last 18 months. 2010 is going to see considerable increased interest and demand for funding and the addition of Sir Gavin to our investment committee will enable us to respond effectively to that demand."

Other notable members of Harbour include Wragge & Co London managing partner Nicola Mumford and Ashurst litigation partner Edward Sparrow, who sit on an advisory panel.