Litigation Finance - My 26M Euros portfolio (BONUS: Free resources)

[James Orwell]

Hi all,

Please find below the list I've been compiling over the past few days with the help of ChatGPT.

i’m sharing the list here, in case it helps others in similar situations.

My situation:

I currently hold a portfolio of litigation claims totaling over €26 million (17M of claims ready to go, additional 9M currently under review), involving 144 counterparties in the construction sector. These are contractual penalty claims under Estonian law against Italian counterparts, with:

• Signed contracts (mostly in English)
• All the docs in order, ready for filing with the court
• Personal guarantees from directors
• Jurisdiction clauses pointing to Harju County Court (Tallinn)
• 87 formal demand letters issued, all ignored (strong point in Estonian courts)
• Minimum claim value: €50K
• Maximum claim value: €976K
• Budget €1.5 Million (entire portfolio)

I’m looking to either:

• Assign the claims entirely, or
• Partner with a funder under a waterfall recovery model
• A mix of the above

I retain counsel in both Estonia and Italy. Given the legal framework and debtor silence, I believe this is a highly enforceable and attractive portfolio.

Questions for the community:

• Has anyone worked with any of these funders directly?
• Do you have advice on how to approach them,or others not listed?
• Would anyone be open to a warm intro or just sharing how you got in the door?

As promised, here's the list, with just one word of warning: although I checked all the websites myself, some of them do not finance commercial litigations like mine (e.g. https://www.crowdjustice.com/all-cases/ ); others don't work outside of the US or the UK, or require an ATE insurance I don't currently have; others are just advisors, who claim to be able to market your case to their "vast array of capital sources".

Still, I believe the full list could be useful. Just browse the websites and see in what they specialize.

Arcadia Finance https://www.arcadiafin.com

Aristata Capital https://www.aristata.co.uk/

Asertis https://asertis.co.uk

Augusta Ventures https://www.augustaventures.com

AxiaFunder https://www.axiafunder.com

Balance Legal Capital https://www.balancelegalcapital.com

Bench Walk https://benchwalk.com

Black Eagle http://blackeaglefund.org

Burford Capital https://www.burfordcapital.com

Calunius Capital https://www.calunius.com

CASL https://casl.com.au/

Certum Group certumgroup.com

Claims Funding Europe https://www.claimsfundingeurope.eu/

ClaimTrading https://www.claimtrading.com

CrowdJustice https://www.crowdjustice.com

Curiam Capital https://www.curiam.com/

Deminor https://www.deminor.com

Erso Capital https://www.ersocap.com

Factor Risk https://www.factor-risk.com

Foris https://www.foris.com

GLScap https://www.glscap.com

Harbour Litigation Funding https://www.harbourlitigationfunding.com

Innsworth Advisors https://www.innsworth.com

IVO Capital Partners https://en.ivocapital.com/

Kapatens https://kapatens.com

LegalFundHub https://www.legalfundhub.com/

Legalist, Inc. https://www.legalist.com

LegalPay https://www.legalpay.in/

LexShares https://www.lexshares.com

LitFin https://litfin.capital/

Litigium Capital https://litigiumcapital.com

Longford Capital Management https://www.longfordcapital.com

Loopa Finance https://www.loopa.finance

Manolete Partners https://www.manolete-partners.com

Mourant Ozannes https://www.mourant.com

Nivalion https://www.nivalion.com

NorthWall Capital https://northwallcapital.com/

Omni Bridgeway https://www.omnibridgeway.com

Orchard Global https://www.orchardgroup.com

Parabellum Capital https://www.parabellumcap.com

Polaric Partners https://www.polaric-partners.com/

Pretium https://pretium.com

QLP https://www.qlp.ltd.uk

Redress Solutions https://www.redresssolutions.co.uk

Sentry Funding https://www.sentryfunding.co.uk

Signal Peak Partners https://signalpeakllc.com/

Soryn IP Capital https://www.sorynipcap.com/

Therium https://www.therium.com

Vannin Capital https://www.vannin.com

Westfleet Advisors https://www.westfleetadvisors.com

Winward https://www.winward.uk/

Woodsford https://www.woodsford.com

 

[wellington]

Ambulance chasing?

 

[James Orwell]

Ambulance chasing?

That's an interesting market, no doubts. But no, we're in a whole different playground.

I don't see a lot of posts about litigation funding around here, only this recent one claiming 20-25% a year.

Hence the decision of sharing the above list, for anybody interested. Plenty of funds are actually open to investors. The returns claimed by the funds are impressive.

My case aside, I guess it's a win-win.

 

[James Orwell]

Sorry, the post I was referencing above here:

B

Thread 'What investment is making you 10%+ yearly?'

Feb 28, 2024

Out of boredom and curiosity.
Anybody here is investing money and making at least 10% (or more) on the invested capital?

If yes, what did you invested in?

Please NO CRYPTO answers.

• bibing
• Replies: 204
• Forum: Investment

• 

 

[alley]

Thanks for putting this together, really valuable list, especially for those of us exploring litigation finance for the first time.

I’ve been looking into third party funders for a smaller claim (low six figures), and one of the biggest challenges is figuring out which firms actually deal with commercial disputes outside the UK/US.
A lot of them look great on the surface but either require ATE insurance, a UK jurisdiction, or are purely focused on group/class actions.

It’s interesting to see that you’re working under Estonian law, not many examples floating around online.

Curious if you’ve found any of the EU-based funders (like Deminor or Nivalion) to be open to single claim portfolios from lesser-known jurisdictions?

Also agree with your point about advisors vs. actual funders, I’ve wasted too much time with “connectors” who promise access to capital but are just building their own pitch decks off your documents.

 

[James Orwell]

Hey Alley! My pleasure

In addition to the issues you mentioned (jurisdiction limitations, ATE insurance, class action), I discovered during my research that most litigation funders require a minimum return multiple of 6x. In other words, for a budget of $100K to cover legal expenses (some even offer to reimburse past legal costs, which is quite impressive), they expect a realistic claim of at least $600K. This ensures that,if successful,the recovery covers their principal, profit, any applicable lawyer success fees, and still leaves the plaintiff with something, even if the judge decides to reduce the $600K to a smaller figure.


Because of this, claims in the low six figures may be especially hard to finance, depending on the complexity of the case and ultimately on the hours needed to put the case together.

I'm hopeful as mine are pretty straightforward, we won't need a lot of hours per case, and a budget of 10k per single counterpart is more than conservative. As the average claim exceeds 150K, the multiplier isn't an issue.

As for your questions, I still cannot provide any answers. I’ve recently reached out to a few companies that seemed better aligned with what I’m looking for.

As for Estonia, I’m curious myself how it will be perceived. The jurisdiction was picked for its cost-effective, efficient, and relatively swift legal system.

To give you an idea: my Estonian lawyer recently told me, “I’m so sorry, James, the court is overwhelmed with work, and I don’t expect a judgment before 6–9 months.”

In Southern EU countries that would look like a fast-track process!

 

[alpakiwi]

I’ve worked with litigation funders 4–5 times across both the EU and the US, and have also invested in or personally funded several cases. Just to clarify: are the expected legal fees around €1.5M to pursue €17M in claims, with additional claims potentially bringing the total to €26M? And when you mention 144 counterparties in the construction sector, does that mean 144 entirely separate contracts and claims? I’m trying to assess whether these are “mirror” cases or if each one requires individual handling.

 

[James Orwell]

Yes, the current estimate for legal fees is around €1.5M to pursue the initial €17M in claims, with the potential to scale up to around €26M as more files are prepared. That estimate includes court fees, legal drafting, translations, and enforcement prep across both Estonia (jurisdiction) and Italy (execution).


As for the 144 counterparties: these are 144 separate Italian construction companies, each bound by its own contract and personal guarantee. That said, the contracts are almost identical. All contracts were negotiable, but almost none of the counterparts negotiated any amendment. Furthermore, across a 12 months span there have been minor adjustments to the contracts made by our side, but nothing that may influence how the enforcement will be handled.

So the cases are largely "mirror" in nature, which also explains the lower-than-average budget, as we have lawyers on retainer in Italy and the Estonian lawyers are more than happy to negotiate a volume deal.

As for the breach, that's almost always the same. Roughly 87 of the 144 counterparts never even replied to the formal notice of breach and contractual penalty claim, which strengthens our case.

On the downside, each case will need its own file and procedural steps and evidence packages, but the legal arguments and the structure are highly replicable. So while they're technically separate proceedings, they can be handled in a scalable and semi-automated way,closer to portfolio litigation than 144 bespoke cases.

Looking at the whole picture, it seems like having a portfolio with a strong enforcement outlook, but at the same time highly diversified. Knowing the Italian market, I'm quite sure many will settle ASAP, an equal number will get a default judgement for failure to appear in court, and some will fight back.

 

[alpakiwi]

Given that these are almost “mirror” cases, €1.5M in legal fees sounds extremely high for Estonia and Italy. I’d need to understand the rationale behind that figure. Typically, you’d expect something in the range of €100–150K, plus a low single-digit success fee (around 3–5%) on any actual recovery. In any case, once you have a final judgment, enforcement and collection can be outsourced or the portfolio sold.

Also, if court filing fees are substantial (I’m not sure about Estonia, but they’re something like €500 per case for that disputed amount in Italy), you’d normally start with a single test case, see how it plays out, and then pursue the rest in sequence. Based on the quote you’ve received, it sounds like the claim may not be entirely clear-cut and the lawyers are anticipating lengthy proceedings or appeals.

As for enforcement, I assume Estonia has a relatively efficient judicial system. Once you obtain a judgment, recognition in Italy is straightforward under the Brussels I bis Regulation: no need for formal domestication, just direct enforcement by filing the judgment and the certificate under Article 53, along with a certified Italian translation. You can also request precautionary measures (like a sequestro conservativo) in parallel if asset dissipation is a concern.

Overall, sounds like a good case. Happy to take a look at it.

 

[James Orwell]

Hmmm... 1.5M seems steep, but 100-150K seems extremely low.

Are you assuming all the lawyers involved to work on contingency? That can be negotiated, but I can hardly see the overall budget to plummet that low.

According to our estimates, assuming we want to file tomorrow for each 144 cases, Court Fees alone would be around 300K (see attachment. Doesn't look very official, but it's straight from the Estonian parliament website).

Your strategy is sound: file for one case and see how it plays out. We actually filed for two, which are now in the initial court phase (one admitted, one awaiting admission).

But we have roughly 18 months to take legal action, or the statute of limitation will erase our right to claim the contractual penalty. Once the case is filed, time is reset. So, if we want to make sure and enforce all the credits, we need to have a plan in place.

One option is to push for a settlement with the first 2 cases, use the proceedings to fund more cases, and snowball from there.

But we decided to look into a plan B, just in case things don't work out as in our ideal scenario (as we all know, they hardly ever do...).

I'm currently talking to a few funds, and the conversations are being insightful. We're working with our lawyers to come up with the needed legal opinions, budgets and timeframes.

As this may be read as soliciting investments for a risky venture, I want to make clear that I am NOT looking for investors here, only to share some knowledge.

Having said that, Alpakiwi, if you want to PM me to know more about the topic, I really can't stop you

 

[yomboloz]

Sorry I don't fully understand this, did you actually work with over a hundred Italian based construction companies and they all wronged you in some way, so you want to sue them?

Or did you actually find people who've had issues with Italian construction companies and they hired you to represent them in lawsuits against them?

 

[James Orwell]

It's the first case.

 

[alpakiwi]

There are ways to suspend or interrupt the statute of limitations, depending on the jurisdiction. For example, formally asserting the debt through a legal demand, subpoena, or similar actions can sometimes suffice, especially when combined with the threat of litigation. However, this does not work in every country and needs to be assessed locally.

This is what I would do. Try to schedule one-on-one calls with several top-tier Estonian litigators: Jaanus Mody from COBALT, Paul Varul from TEGOS, Leon Glikman from GAA, Carri Ginter from Sorainen, and Arne Ots or Toomas Vaher at Ellex Raidla. Present your idea of litigating the cases and ask each of them to give you an independent view on both the legal merits and the potential fee structure, as if you were considering hiring them. I would also involve one or two respected law professors or former judges with strong credentials, to get a more academic or institutional perspective. Do all of this independently and without letting any of them know that you are speaking with others.

The names I listed are already financially secure. They earn high salaries and are equity partners at major law firms, so they are not under pressure to take on cases just to generate billable hours, especially since this is not the US or the UK and we are not talking about legal fees in the millions. This often makes them more straightforward, either because of that or, more importantly, because they are highly senior and care about their reputation in court. Lawyers at that level typically will not take on a claim unless they believe it is genuinely winnable. Since legal fees in Europe are much lower than in the US, I would prioritize those who are open to working on a contingency basis, ideally tied to success rather than recovery. If a lawyer offers that, it is usually a strong indication that they believe in the case. Conversely, if they steer you toward a junior partner or hesitate to discuss contingency, it likely means they are not fully convinced.

Given that you are dealing with Italian parties, I believe your chances of early settlement are quite low. I would try to identify one strong test case that you can win and enforce, rather than going all in and later discovering that what looked like a strong case actually has structural weaknesses we are not aware of today.

When speaking to the lawyers, ask them directly about the statute of limitations and what strategy they would suggest to preserve the claim, while avoiding unnecessary costs for both sides and without overwhelming Estonia’s small court system. Judges are unlikely to welcome a flood of filings, and that could end up harming your position.

All of this (strategy, costs, available options, and initial opinions) can be obtained without any commitment or expense at this stage if you frame it correctly with the firms.