Litigation funding options
Commercial dispute resolution is in the process of a funding revolution. Court rules on how disputes can be funded have changed, which means that there are a range of ways to fund a dispute that could involve little or no cost to you.
Talk to us about ways in which we can help you transfer the financial exposure associated with a dispute away from your business, on to a third party or insurer.
The type of funding arrangement will depend on the unique circumstances of your case. Some of the options are detailed below.
Budgeting
We understand that one of the biggest problems a business faces when it encounters a commercial dispute is maintaining control of its legal costs and expenses budget.
At the outset, we will provide you with our best estimate of the likely costs associated with pursuing a claim or defending a claim that has been made against you. Our budget will break the process down into stages, showing you the various stages of the dispute and the legal costs likely to be associated with each stage. We will keep the estimate under review as the dispute progresses so that you know as soon as possible if the underlying circumstances of your dispute change and our estimate needs to be amended.
Having this information at an early stage enables you to plan your strategy in advance and make informed tactical decisions as the dispute progresses.
Funding your dispute
We will assess your prospects of success at an early stage and we will advise you if we consider your case would be suitable for an alternative method of funding.
Contingency fee
If your dispute is in its early stages and court proceedings have not been issued, we may agree to act on a 'contingency fee' basis. This means that if we recover any damages from the other side on your behalf, we will take an agreed percentage of those damages as our fee. If we do not recover any damages for you, you pay nothing.
Conditional Fee Agreement
If we feel that your case has good prospects of success, we may offer to share the risk of the litigation with you through a conditional fee agreement ("CFA"). This means that we will agree to discount our fees by a certain percentage for all or part of the case.
If we then achieve what we have agreed is a 'successful outcome' in the case, we are entitled to charge our undiscounted rates plus a percentage success fee. The bulk of these charges are normally recoverable from the losing party. For this reason, a CFA puts more pressure on the other side by increasing their potential costs exposure.
If you lose the case, all you will pay us is our discounted hourly rates for the work that we have undertaken on your behalf.
After the Event insurance
After the Event insurance or "ATE" is an insurance policy that covers you in the event that you are found to be liable for your opponent's legal costs and expenses if you lose. If you win the case, the premium for the insurance policy is usually recoverable from the losing party.
This sort of insurance policy is normally coupled with a CFA in order to protect you against the Court ordering you to pay the other side's costs, if you lose the case.
We have established relationships with brokers and insurance companies.
Third party funding
A third party funder will fund all of the costs and expenses associated with a dispute. Potentially, you could pay no legal costs or expenses, even if you lose. The funder will, however, expect a share of your damages if you win.
