Litigation finance

Parties wishing to raise litigation/enforcement finance face an uphill battle. Approximately 95% of cases fail to receive funding. If a case encompasses any material risk to collection, most funders will reject the case. We markedly improve those odds.

Using our expertise in recovery, we do all the background work necessary to prepare and package a case for funding, and to pave and articulate a compelling path to collection. We then broker finance through our close relationships with more than 80 specialist investors and hedge funds around the world, and in some cases we invest our own capital. Our work includes:

Debt monetisation

We help parties wishing to sell or exit their legal debt – commonly a full & final judgment or arbitral award. Parties wanting to avoid the complex, uncertain and resource-intensive endeavour of enforcement may wish to assign their debt to a third party with the appetite and wherewithal to collect. Depending on a range of factors – including identity of the debtors, age of the debt, and legal circumstances – debt monetisation of this type are distressed and priced at a significant discount. 

We advise creditors on their prospects of monetisation. Where a credible opportunity exists, we prepare a case for monetisation, principally by compiling an intelligent and well-informed collection plan. We turn the debt into an investable or buyable proposition. We then work with specialist investors around the world to get comfortable with the instrument, and to structure an acquisition of the debt. This can involve outright monestisations, or hybrid assignment deals whereby the creditor retains an interest in the proceeds of final recovery. 

Creative solutions

We are strong exponents of creative settlement solutions. We deploy out-of-the-box thinking work hard to explore options for settlement of the debt in a non-traditional fashion. For example, where the debtor is cash-poor and unable to satisfy a money judgment, payment-in-kind may provide a route for the debtor to settle. This may include the transfer of assets; the granting of a business contract, royalty or right; or in the case of a sovereign, the issuance of licences, franchises, land, or natural resources. We create the conditions and expand the conceptual framework for creditor and debtor to settle. 

In the case of intractable debts, a win can be achieved by brokerage of the debt to a third party, who may be better positioned vis-à-vis the debtor to collect. Typical examples include sovereign arbitral awards, where the creditor has lost local access. In such situations, current trading partners of the sovereign debtor may be potential assignees or buyers of the debt. They maintain ongoing commercial relationships with the sovereign, and may be able to generate a win-win, by arranging a discounted settlement or using the debt to draw down a trade balance with the sovereign, thereby allowing the sovereign to wipe away a major liability. Other “triangular” solutions involving pivotal third parties may be available depending on the case circumstances.