Litigation Funding | IMF Bentham Ltd

Benefits of IMF Funding, What We Fund & the Funding Process

Funding your claim to a successful conclusion

WE BRING SUPPORT AND EXPERTISE TO YOUR CLAIM

Benefits of IMF Funding What we Fund Benefits for Lawyers The Funding Process

Benefits of Funding with IMF Bentham

Litigation Funding is not always well understood by practitioners or their clients - either as a mechanism to enable a meritorious claim to proceed, or as a way to mitigate a client’s risk.

Funding is a form of risk mitigation.
Our funding enables you to spend your money in your core business. You are free carried on your share of the upside.

If your claim does fail, adverse costs risk is covered. This means that you won’t have to pay the other side’s costs.

We are used to legal risk, you may not be.

We have the financial strength to enable claims to be pursued to finality and our track record speaks for itself.

Our reputation means that defendants will take your claim seriously. We don’t fund unmeritorious claims.

For these reasons, having IMF behind you ought to achieve a better outcome than on your own, especially during settlement negotiations.

Our return is only from the recoveries generated by the claim.

Our Practice Areas

We welcome applications from any jurisdiction. We are constantly seeking to add new product areas and services.

Commercial Litigation

IMF Bentham funds single party and multi-party claims. Historically, our clients receive the majority of recoveries. We pick up all legal costs and disbursements along the way. Typical minimum claim size is AUD 5 million, but we will consider lower.

Insolvency

Funding for insolvency and restructuring professionals. We fund 100% of insolvency practitioners fees associated with the case, including further investigation, up to an agreed budget, in addition to legal fees and disbursements. Our minimum claim size is typically AUD 1 million.

Class Actions

Class actions are a cost effective way to run a group of similar legal claims. Otherwise the cost to each individual plaintiff would be prohibitive. We manage the whole process from initial book build through to trial and settlement.

Arbitrations

IMF Bentham looks to fund international commercial arbitration and investment treaty claims with a claim value in excess of AUD 10 million.

Benefits for Lawyers

IMF Bentham has worked with over 100 of Australia’s leading law firms, as well as with leading law firms throughout the world.

The primary benefits of litigation funding are for the client. Funding legal costs (including lawyer’s fees, counsel’s fees, expert reports and all related disbursements) and covering the risk of adverse costs on a non-recourse basis substantially reduces client risk and enables legal claims to be pursued that wouldn’t be otherwise.

The on-flow benefits for law firms working with IMF Bentham are:

Where a lawyer believes a legal claim should be pursued and is in the best interests of the client, but the client would not choose to pursue the legal claim for financial reasons, litigation funding creates a way.
IMF Bentham promptly pays legal fees:
- This generally improves law firm cash-flow;
- Allows firms to pursue matters for clients that might ordinarily be done on a no-win no fee basis but can’t be due to firm cash-flow limitations. This is typical for large scale litigation projects, involving large legal teams working over many years.

We are interested in long-term relationships with law firms and government. As a public listed company, we have an interest in providing services that align with and compliment the role of law and public policy, in protecting and serving the society we operate in. We regularly engage in discussions and seek feedback from law firms and government to ensure this alignment continues.

Our 6-step funding process

The process of applying for funding is easy with IMF Bentham.

Outline your Claim Application Review Offer of Funding Case Progresses Settlement or Trial Distribution of Proceeds

Outline Claim

The process of applying for funding is easy.

You or your solicitor contacts us and outlines the nature of the claim and its possible value. We are happy to discuss your claim with you and give you an early indication of whether it might be suitable for funding.

Read our Disclosure Statement
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Application Review

We review your application and any enclosed documents, and request further information as required, including fee estimates from the lawyers.

Factors that we consider involve the strength of the claim, the costs involved, and the likely capacity of the defendant to meet a judgment. If your claim isn’t suitable for funding, we will let you know promptly.

We will enter into a confidentiality agreement to protect the confidential nature of the information you disclose to us.

Offer of Funding

If we make a funding offer, we send you or your lawyer a funding agreement.

It usually provides that IMF will pay legal fees and disbursements and pay any adverse costs order. IMF may also provide security for costs if security for costs is ordered by the Court.

In return, from any resolution sum, we are entitled to be reimbursed project costs (cost paid by IMF during the course of the matter including legal costs, practitioner costs and disbursements) and a fee from the resolution sum.

Our success fee normally ranges between 25% and 45%. Factors affecting the percentage include the size and strength of the case, and its likely duration. The fee is normally less if the case resolves sooner.

Case Progresses

A case may take anywhere between 1 and 4 years as it moves through the litigation process.

In simple terms, the Plaintiff begins the case with a Statement of Claim. If the Defendant wishes to defend the claim, they will file a Defence. Various legal and procedural steps then follow to progress the claim to trial, including exchange of documents.

As a support to you and your lawyers, IMF provides strategic planning, monitoring and management throughout this process.

Settlement or Trial

The majority of cases settle before trial.

Cases often settle at mediation, at which a mediator agreeable to both parties tries to assist the parties to reach a settlement. IMF is involved in this process – after all, we have a mutual interest in seeing you maximise the value of the claim.

If the matter does proceed to trial, the judge will in due course provide a written judgment in support of the court’s decision, and make an appropriate order as to costs. Either party may appeal the decision.

Distribution of Proceeds

If the claim is successful, the defendant will be obliged to pay an agreed or determined sum of money into the plaintiff lawyer's trust account.

From this sum the lawyer will deduct the fees owing to IMF pursuant to the Funding Agreement, and pay the balance of funds to the client.

If the claim fails, IMF is responsible for paying the Defendant’s costs on the terms of the funding agreement.