Litigation Finance

Commercial litigation financing at Omni Bridgeway

At Omni Bridgeway, we provide non-recourse commercial litigation finance for virtually any type of large commercial disputes being brought by a company or individual. Our funding supports:

• Antitrust litigation
• Appeals
• Arbitration
• Asset tracing & monitoring
• Bankruptcy and insolvency
• Commercial litigation
• Distressed asset recovery
• Intellectual property, including copyright, trademark, trade secret and patent
• Law firm financing
• Judgment enforcement
• Securities litigation
• Whistleblower litigation

We work with claimants to develop a funding arrangement that suits their goals, such as:

1. Single-case financing. Financing to support a single case or arbitration and can include working capital, debt satisfaction and other expenses—all subject to recovery from the case.
2. Portfolio financing. Financing to support multiple cases or arbitrations of a law firm or a company. The returns in this scenario will come from the recovery the firm or company collects from any one or more of the portfolio cases.
3. Multi-party financing. Financing for an action against a defendant on behalf of a group or a representative(s) for the group with the same or similar claims. A range of claims are suitable for funding, including securities/shareholder, environmental and product liability actions. Direct funding of multi-party actions is more common in jurisdictions such as Australia and certain European jurisdictions which have group or class action regimes but do not permit lawyers to charge a contingency fee.

Benefits of litigation finance

Manage risk. Omni Bridgeway’s capital is non-recourse, meaning that a return on investment is collected only if the case is successful. If the claimant does not recover any proceeds from their case by way of settlement, judgment, award or otherwise, it is not obligated to repay the funder. It removes the risk and uncertainty, allowing claimants to pursue legal claims without the burden of significant upfront and ongoing capital commitments.

In comparison, an interest-bearing loan must be repaid no matter what happens in the case. Litigation finance also is immune from rising interest rates. The terms of a funding deal are bespoke and set according to the size, strength, and collectability of the dispute being financed.

Unlock value. For companies and law firms, using capital from a funder delivers immediate accounting benefits such as, creating liquidity, moving litigation expenses off the balance sheet and releasing capital for other priorities that can improve a company’s bottom line. It can even turn a company’s legal department into a revenue source instead of a fees and expenses centre.

Level the playing field. Legal finance allows a dispute to be resolved based on the strength of the legal claim, rather than based on the relative financial strength of the parties. Something all companies should have in their toolbox, legal finance can be leveraged to hire the best lawyers and experts and gives them the ability to withstand low-ball settlement offers on meritorious claims.

The Three-Step Funding Process

1. Opportunity Assessment. The process starts by executing a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) (also known as a confidentiality agreement) between the law firm or claimant and Omni Bridgeway. The NDA allows us to comprehensively assess the merits of the dispute. If the case fits within our funding criteria, we will issue a term sheet outlining the financial terms of the investment. 
2. Due diligence.  Once the term sheet has been executed, we conduct extensive diligence into the investment opportunity. This consists of a deep dive into the merits of the claims, potential damages, settlement and collection prospects, and the amount of capital needed to pursue the matter. It also involves an analysis of the claimant’s background and financial position and the capabilities of the law firms and lawyers handling the case, including their track record of results in handling similar cases.
3. Funding decision and litigation finance agreement. Our investment committee, comprised of senior legal professionals at the top of their respective fields, reviews the due diligence materials and determines whether to invest based on the claim. Upon approval by the investment committee, we will execute a litigation funding agreement which sets out the binding terms and conditions of the investment, and the claimant will begin receiving the funds.