Litigation Finance started commercially in Australia in the late ’90s with LCM being one of the first companies operating in the field.
Originally focused on insolvency matters, the landmark *2006 High Court ruling that litigation funding was not an abuse of process has seen the industry grow to also cover commercial claims, class actions and international arbitrations.
Litigation Finance is essentially a product that assumes all of the the financial risk of legal claims in exchange for a share of the amounts recovered.
LCM will agree to bear all of a claimant’s legal costs, which can include solicitor’s fees, barrister’s fees, charges of independent experts and court fees.
In return, LCM will receive a percentage of the recovered amounts plus repayment of all costs. The percentage LCM receives will vary from between 15% and 40% depending on the level of financing provided.
It is important to note that Litigation Finance does not give LCM any recourse to the claimant’s assets. LCM will only recover costs and fees if the litigation is successful. If the litigation is unsuccessful LCM will bear all costs.
*Fostif 2006