Contact - we are there for you
Your contact person
Marina Töws
Marina Töws Legal Assistant

Litigation Funding

Litigation without risk - but with the best lawyers

The litigation lunding of FORIS offers you the possibility to pass on the financial risks of a legal dispute to FORIS. In this case, FORIS, as a financially strong partner at your side, not only assumes the costs for lawyers, court costs and experts. In the event of a defeat in court, as a litigation financier we also assume the costs for the lawyers of the other side. Optimise your risk management by outsourcing your cost risks to FORIS.

"Actually, we ought to recommend considering litigation funding to every client"

(Senior Litigation Partner of an international law firm).

Ask us

Whether by phone or e-mail: Our specialists will find answers to all your questions, jargon-free and free of charge. Together with you, we will find tailored solutions to mitigate your cost risks both domestically and internationally, in every phase of dispute resolution, from an early case assessment through to the enforcement of a judgement.

> Request litigation funding now

  • Approach
  • Indemnification
  • Win-Win
  • Prerequisites
Approach

The straight-forward approach of litigation funding

FORIS provides the funds for your litigation and arbitration proceedings against a contingent share in the proceeds which will become payable only if you win. We pay your lawyers, the court fees and experts - and in the event you will not win, we will also cover the adverse cost. You can lead your litigation or settlement negotiations with the reassuring feeling that the cost of litigation will not bother you.

Indemnification

FORIS will settle the amounts invoiced to you

You do not have to pay or advance any litigation cost. We cover the upfront court fees as well as the running costs for your lawyers. If you are a corporate, you will not make any accruals for the legal costs. Should you lose your case, you will have no additional (cost) damage.

Win-Win

We only win together with you.

You will receive the lion´s share of the proceeds that your case will generate and share with us an amount or a percentage previously agreed. The amount you will have to share ist negotiated on a case-by-case basis. We apply objective criteria such as the estimated duration of the dispute, the merits of the case and economic/commercial considerations.

Prerequisites

Each case has its potential

Funding will be particularly promising, if:

  • the amount in dispute is above €100,000 and will not exceed €150 million
  • you or your lawyer have concluded your case will likely have a better then 50:50 chance or winning
  • the adverse party has a solid credit rating.

Benefits

Since the first successful funding, we have always been keen to adapt our services individually to the requirements of our customers. Because it is always a good feeling to be able to rely on a strong partner. Read how you can benefit from litigation funding:

Your benefits as an business leader

  • The cost of legal disputes will often and quickly exceed your initial expectation – sometimes a multiple of the allocated budget. Many costs will still be unknown and unpredictable when the action starts. You will save both the expected and unexpected costs and benefit from more liquidity you can use for your core business operations.
  • You will not have to make accruals for litigation costs and your balance sheet will not be impacted by avoidable costs.
  • You will receive a tailored funding concept that can be adapted to your specific needs. If the litigation procrastinates or your lawyerscharge more than expected, FORIS will also cover these cost risks.
  • In many cases, FORIS litigation funding will support an early settlement. We can share numerous case studies where a claim was settled shortly after initiating the litigation. Sometimes we can even help to avoid a lawsuit as a whole.
  • If you wish, we can check the monetisation of your claim by which you will receive a partical advance payment on the expected proceeds (cash advance)

    Your benefits as an individual consumer

    • Excessive legal fees and further litigation costs can threaten your livelihood. You will enjoy the same very support that we provide to corporates with the same reassuring feeling that you are protected against the legal costs.
    • Corporations, banks,  insurers and other players, supported by their dedicated in-house legal teams and by finest outside counsel, often rely on their expectation that you will not run the risk of intiating an expensive lawsuit. We eliminate the  imbalance of powers. You will fight at eye level with your counterparties - at our expense.
    • You do not come as a petitioner to us. We will treat you as a partner.

      Your benefits as a lawyer

      • You will be representing cases some of which your clients will not instruct without protection from costs. Your client does not have to give in or settle prematurely. Instead he can exploit your entire dispute resolution repertoire.
      • You retain full control over the proceedings. FORIS will provide a second opinion and act as a sparring partner, however, without interfering with the counsel's strategy.
      • Invoices for legal services will be settled quickly and reliably. You will not have to engage in difficult billing arguments with your client.
      • Fee arrangements can be flexibly adjusted with FORIS. In addition to statutory fees, we often offer a supplemental fee, the so-called “FORIS reward”, hourly fees or alternative fee agreement.

        Benefits with FORIS

        • Transparency. FORIS has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1999 and is subject to strict reporting obligations. Thus, we are committed to maximum transparency.
        • Independence. FORIS is neither part of nor controlled by any financial investor or insurance group. All entrepreneurial and investment decisions are being made at our Bonn headquarters. We want to be successful together with our customers and on a long-term basis.
        • Down-to-Earth Strength. FORIS is primarily equity financed. This means we are well prepared for the unforeseen. For our customers this means guaranteed perseverance. For us, strength also means being down to earth. We work with our clients at eye level and as a team.
        • Innovation. FORIS have been described as a pioneer in the litigation funding industry. Hardly any other litigation funder worldwide will be able to look back on a longer history. Even today, we continue to bring new ideas into our products, such as the "Third Way Funding" or "Shared Risk Funding".
        • Internationality. Around 70 percent of our dispute funding portfolio is rooted in Germany. However, FORIS is also one of the most active litigation funders in Austria. Furthermore, FORIS is increasingly requested to fund litigation and arbitration proceedings across Europe and in fact worldwide. Our largest litigation case is trialled in France. We fund international arbitrations in the U.S. and support clients and cooperating partners in Asia, South America and Australia.

        Areas of law

        FORIS litigation funding is available in most areas of law. From medical liability to antitrust law to foreclosure - there are hardly any disputes where you cannot benefit from the free financing check by FORIS Litigation Funding. You are welcome to contact us free of charge & without obligation and we will check whether we can support you with litigation financing.

        > Request litigation funding now

        Litigation funding procedure

        We examine your case free of charge.

        1 Contact
        2 Pre-Assessment
        3 Full case assessment
        4 Funding agreement
        5 Complaint
        Contact
        Contact

        How to contact us

        The easiest way is to call us:

        +49 228 95750-50.

        We clarify with you by telephone on your individual case what we suggest as the best way forward.

        > Contact our dispute resolution team

        > Make an inquiry

        Pre-Assessment
        Pre-Assessment

        Pre-Assessment

        At the outset we will examine the merits of your case. For these purposes it will be ideal ifIdeal to provide us with as detailed and as complete information as possible. Should you not have all relevant documents at hand at early this stage, you just do not worry. We will identify and clarify any and all open questions and aspects with you as part of our pre-assessment.

        It is free of charge.

        > Contact our dispute resolution team

        > Make an inquiry

        Full case assessment
        Full case assessment

        Full case assessment

        If, after the pre-assessment phase we can foresee that your claims will more likely than not be enforceable, we will engange in a full case assessment, addressing all points as we see relevant to the funding of the case. Those can be legal or economic aspects as well as strategic and practical questions. During this phase, we will review all previously unavailable documents, obtain supplementary expert opinions and confer with you accordingly.

        > Contact our dispute resolution team

        > Make an inquiry

        Funding agreement
        Funding agreement

        Funding agreement

        Subsequent to a positive case assessment, we will negotiate a litigation funding agreement together with you. As part of that contract we not only agree on the commercial rates but equally on the case strategy we will want to jointly pursue and how we both intend to deal with unexpected developments (e.g. counterclaims, third-party joinders). As soon as these points will have been agreed, we are ready to go.

        > Contact our dispute resolution team

        > Make an inquiry

        Complaint
        Complaint

        Complaint

        The complaint, request for arbitration, mediation, settlement negotiation will be launched - depending on the specifics of your individual case. At this point we will usually receive the first invoice from the court and the first invoice for your lawyer's legal fees.

        Nothing you should worry about.

        > Contact our dispute resolution team

        > Make an inquiry

        Contact - we are there for you
        Your contact person
        Marina Töws
        Marina Töws Legal Assistant
        Contact - we are there for you
        Your contact person
        Marina Töws
        Marina Töws Legal Assistant