Litigation funding – make the strength of your claim pay

The cost of solicitors and legal proceedings can be expensive. Legal claims can be complex and without the right expertise you reduce your chances of success and could end up on the wrong end of a legal costs order – paying the other sides costs.

The question is how to maximise the chances of success whilst tying to minimise your exposure to not only your own legal costs, but those of the opponent to.

In the UK today, access to justice for civil or commercial claimants and defendants without a bottomless pit of funds appears to have almost disappeared. Legal aid is all but gone but for the most desperate of criminal and family proceedings and institutions, being government or large financial or professional bodies, appear to have a considerable advantage over all opponents of lesser means.

Often this means you, be you a company or an individual, often find yourself faced with the difficult alternative options of either

• significant legal costs (with no guarantee of success at trial, which will follow extensive and costly litigation services provided by a firm of solicitors); or
• having to reach a settlement, regardless of the strength of the claim against you.

This doesn’t seem fair, but can reflect reality in many situations

We can help find the right solutions for you

There are solutions however – a common way to get around this problem is by financing the asset, being your interest or claim, or the strength of a defence you may have (if faced with threatened or actual court proceedings). This, together with more traditional ways of paying legal costs, are often referred to as litigation funding.

Litigation funding is a concept that is not new and at Francis Wilks & Jones we are very familiar with assisting individuals or companies who are keen to explore alternative forms of litigation funding.

At Francis Wilks & Jones we have many years of considering our client’s position and working with clients to establish creative solutions to such concerns. If you would like to read further on this subject, please click on any of the following links:

• how do people fund commercial litigation?
• what are the alternatives to litigation
• the key legal principles of funding litigation

Options Available

In summary, the options available as an alternative to funding legal costs yourself comprise one, or a combination, of the following:

• solicitor funding arrangements
• third party funding arrangements

At Francis Wilks & Jones you will always speak to someone at a senior level who will respond to any query you have very quickly.

Please call any member of our commercial litigation team for your consultation now. Alternatively e mail us with your enquiry and we will call you back at a time convenient to you.