Not a week goes by without reference in the press to the changing landscape of litigation funding. Turn the clock back a few years and we were all talking about conditional fee agreements (CFAs); now the spotlight is on third-party funding. We have seen a host of new players enter the market and widespread hype about a new era and a wealth of new funding opportunities for claimants. But do the opportunities really live up to the hype that surrounds them, and where is the trend heading?
For years now, it has been widely recognised that the cost of litigation is a bar for some and impedes access to justice. For the claimant who has a good case but an inability to fund it, third-party funding may well be perceived as the perfect solution. The funder meets the litigation cost and the risk of an adverse costs order in return for a share of the damages. From the claimant’s perspective, the need for financial outlay is eliminated, the risk of costs liability disappears and that can justify handing over a share of the damages – a lower percentage of something is better than 100% of nothing.
