Here's a Lawsuit Advance Example from Australia

Posted on March 21, 2008 by David Austin

This really is a worldwide market.  There will be some variations from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but overall you can fund cases in almost any area of law.

Hillcrest Litigation Services Ltd (ASX:HLS) today announced the parties in the Ideal Contractors case had agreed to a settlement in the matter.

Terms of the settlement are confidential and do not involve admission of liability by any party.

Upon settlement, in 21 days, HLS will receive about $390,000 comprising reimbursement of its funding costs of $300,000 and its profit of $90,000 pursuant to its litigation funding agreement with the Ideal Contractors liquidator.

Source: TradingMarkets.com

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Lawsuit Funding in India

Posted on March 18, 2008 by David Austin

Interesting comment in this article.  This person comments that CFAs (Contingency Fee Agreements) are a form of litigation funding.  At some level he is correct, because the lawyer will provide funds to move the case forward.  In the US at least the lawyers are limited to funding the case itself.  Lawsuit funding goes a step further and provides funding directly to the plaintiff to pay for things like mortgages or other expenses AND can be used to fund the lawsuit directly.

He condemned CFAs as "a half-cocked form of private funding" brought in by the Government, which are "deficient, if not fatally flawed, due to an unprincipled conflict of interest on the part of the lawyer" where in some cases settlement would be better for the client, but not the lawyer's pocket. Lightman sees litigation funding as an answer to provide better access to justice. "Recently the courts have begun to recognise... that litigation is a business which, like other businesses, requires private funding," he said.

Source:  The Lawyer.com

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Litigation on a Large Scale

Posted on March 4, 2008 by David Austin

The State of Alaska has a conflict with BP over royalties and spills on the North Slope.  In order to pursue the case the attorneys are making a request for $4.7 Million from the legislature to fund the lawsuit.

The state of Alaska intends to sue BP PLC for losses incurred by oil spills, pipeline leaks and shutdowns on the North Slope two years ago.

No lawsuit has been filed yet, but the state Department of Law has requested $4.7 million from lawmakers to pay for preparation work and possible litigation this year.

Officials didn't specify how much it would seek from BP, but they estimated the state's losses from the leaks and aftermath at several hundred million dollars.

The House Finance Committee added the money to its operating budget; the House is expected to vote on that budget early next week.The state, which relies on oil taxes and royalties for nearly 90 percent of its revenue, has been investigating BP for months.

Source:  DailyReportOnline.com

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What is Litigation Funding?

Posted on March 2, 2008 by David Austin

Litigation Funding has a few different angles to it. 

Here is the general definition from Wikipedia:

Litigation funding (aka lawsuit loan, plaintiff cash advance, legal financing) is a practice in which individuals who are plaintiffs in lawsuits receive money from firms and individuals who take a lien on the proceeds of a personal injury suit in return for ready cash. It is not considered a loan as the money does not have to be repaid if the plaintiff's law suit is unsuccessful; it is nonrecourse debt. Funding companies also advance money to attorneys against anticipated legal fees earned in a personal injury matter.


The first is often called pre-settlement funding and is money that is paid directly to the plaintiffs (the party in the lawsuit).  It is true that this advance is non-recourse, which means that it does not have to be paid back if the case is not successful.

The second angle is when money is advanced to law firms in anticipation of their legal fees that they may earn when a case settles or is resolved via a verdict.

A third angle is when the money is advanced to pay expenses of a lawsuit.  This money is not paid out to the lawyers as a fee or to the plaintiffs.  It is used only to hire experts or pay for preparation of the lawsuit.

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