We can help you find the best way to fund your claim. Whether you are a Defendant or a Claimant - our knowledge of the different funding structures available means that we can find the solution for you.
The commercial litigation funding options available to you to fund the cost of a solicitor may comprise a contract with your solicitor, on a “no win no fee” basis, or funds received from a third party funder who may pay your solicitor’s costs based on the strength of your claim.
There are a number of arrangements that a client can enter into with his/her solicitor to achieve certainty in relation to their individual needs. Please visit our webpages which deal with the following alternatives:
- fixed fees
- blended rates
- conditional fee arrangements
- discounted conditional fee arrangements
- damages based agreements
- fixed fee retainers
The arrangement that is appropriate to you will depend upon a composition of your circumstances, your attitude to risk and your requirements for certainty.
However, a solicitor (as with any other business) does need to ensure that his/her work is balanced and cannot survive solely on instructions which continuously tie up the only commodity s/he has to sell, i.e. time.
Accordingly, to remain solvent and trading, a firm of solicitors will normally only permit a certain proportion of their clients to enter into such arrangements and therefore there is often the need to involve third parties who may be able to assist with such legal funding.
- in recent years, and following the changes to the law where government has endorsed the aged old (and until recent years criminally prohibited) practice of champerty and maintenance, whereby third parties would encourage litigation solely for personal interests (i.e. the recovery of sums awarded by order of court).
- although there is still a prohibition on encouraging fruitless litigation, there has been the development in the field of insurers/financiers interested in funding genuine claims/defences that would otherwise be unaffordable to that party.
Such a funder would cover the legal costs of proceedings or insure against the risk associated to legal proceedings (i.e. in the event the claim or defence was unsuccessful, that any order made would require that you have to additionally pay the other side’s legal costs).
The interest of the funder would be the potential benefit to them of sharing in the outcome of that party’s claim or defence (in the event they were unsuccessful). Please see our page on third party funding which describes these arrangements in more detail.
At Francis Wilks & Jones we are extremely familiar with all types of funding models and are also receptive to any alternative proposals. We have access to a wide range of litigation funders who may be able to assist you and have a comprehensive experience of alternative litigation funding models, appropriate to your needs.
Please call any member of our dispute resolution team for your consultation now. Alternatively email us with your enquiry and we will call you back at a time convenient to you.
