Litigation funding gap

Solicitors and barristers are not doing enough to keep in-house counsel informed about the potential of litigation funding, new research has shown.

More than 80% of law firms and nearly half of chambers say they discuss litigation funding with their clients, according to a survey by Harbour Litigation Funding. The top three benefits cited were risk minimisation, cost and cash-flow control, and access to justice.  

However, the survey found a “knowledge gap” between private practice lawyers and their clients—only one in five in-house counsel were aware of litigation funding and none of them had any recollection of discussing the option with their external lawyers.

One in-house counsel said she was not “hugely familiar” with litigation funding and that law firms could do more to raise awareness “as to exactly what the tools are and what they can offer”.

Susan Dunn, Harbour’s head of litigation funding, says there is “more work still to be done to educate in-house counsel and dispel certain myths which develop from a lack of understanding”.