Funding and Financing
Our lawyers work with our in-house Funding Committee to advise you on all available funding and insurance options for your particular matter whether litigation, arbitration or mediation.
How best to finance litigation and arbitration is a major consideration for clients when deciding whether to bring an action or resist a claim, no matter the size of the organisation, or merits of the claim.
We offer guidance and support to ensure that funding and finance are an intrinsic part of your case strategy, and will work with you on your matter to ensure you are presented with the best possible options, from a range of sources, that help you cover the costs of your matter, and reduce or eliminate your exposure to your counter-party’s costs.
How can funding work for you?
Funding involves the financing of your disbursements (usually legal costs, and expert fees), in return for a percentage of any recovery, usually on the basis that if your claim is not successful, you will not owe the funder anything (known as 'non-recourse' funding). Funding usually goes hand in hand with After the Event insurance to ensure that in the event your claim is not successful, you will be covered for all or most of your counter-party's costs (known as Adverse Costs).
Why use funding?
- Gives some predictability on costs in an otherwise very unpredictable area
- Reduces your exposure for your own costs and those of your opponents, through funding and insurance products
- Takes your costs exposure off your balance sheets
- Frees up cash flow, improving liquidity and capital for use in the running of your business
- Gives a strong message on the merits to your counter-part, funders only back selected cases that they are confident will win
- Enables cases that might otherwise not be run to be commenced, turning in-house legal teams from a cost centre into a potential profit centre
Funding and financing options that we advise on include:
- Third Party Funding including portfolio funding
- Conditional Fee agreements (CFAs)
- Damages Based Agreements (DBAs)
- Insurance based products e.g. After the Event Insurance (ATE)
- Alternative fee arrangements, including fixed, capped, and discounted fees. For more information please see our Costs Brochure
For more information on Funding, please see our Funding Client Guide, and to discuss funding on your particular matter, please contact your usual HFW contact, or our Funding Committee.
We are working with clients across our international network to help them minimise the impact of COVID-19 on their business and to prepare for what's next. To find out more, visit our dedicated Covid-19 hub.
