Small Businesses VS The Big Boys In The Courtroom

Do small businesses stand a chance against the big boys in a legal battle?

Third party litigation funding companies lead small and risk-averse organisations into the courtroom as a force to be reckoned with.

Litigation funding is a commercial activity that has extensively grown in recent years.  There is a lot of money to be made provided legal companies make the right decisions on the cases they select.  Although profits can be easy if the judging does not go in favour the losses can be heavy indeed.

Two Groups

The users of third party litigation funding generally fall into two groups.  There are the small companies who literally do not have the funding to take on the fight of a larger business.  Then there are the risk-averse which are companies or organisations that do not feel comfortable pouring their money into a case that they cannot be sure they are going to win.

With more than £1bn worth of global funds available to utilise for commercial court cases there is a fighting chance for what can only be described as the underdogs.  With litigation cases becoming longer and thus more expensive, third party litigation financing is meeting a need and keeping the stronger players in line with the law.

Many large companies that seem to have unlimited funding available to go into battle often string out cases with stalling tactics, force or even scare tactics.  Litigation funding evens the balance in favour of the smaller opponent and prevents large organisations from steamrollering and thinking they are above the law.

There are only seven member companies of The Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales, most of which are based in London.  These companies are structured like a private equity fund and get their funding from institutional investors.  These investors are only interested in backing cases where more than $10m is at stake.  The legal company take between 25 and 35 per cent of the settlement fee for their services leaving an approximate reported return of 10% or more on the capital investment.

This type of funding is limited to commercial cases that are of considerable value.  It is not appropriate for consumer cases, personal injury claims or claims that do not carry the opportunity of a high level of damages being awarded.

Yes, Yes, Yes.

Small businesses do indeed stand every chance of taking on the big boys and winning in the courtroom with the help of the right litigation company.

So what are you waiting for?

Contact Woodsford Litigation here  to start the legal ball rolling…