What Types of Cases Get Litigation Funding?
A comprehensive guide to the case types and legal disputes that qualify for third-party litigation funding.
The Golden Rule
Litigation funders back cases that have strong merits, significant quantum (typically £1M+), and a solvent defendant who can pay if they lose.
The specific cause of action matters less than these fundamentals. Almost any commercial dispute meeting these criteria can attract funding if structured properly.
What Are the Most Commonly Funded Case Types?
Commercial Contract Disputes
Breach of contract claims between businesses are the bread and butter of litigation funding. These include:
- • Supply chain disputes (non-payment, quality failures, delivery breaches)
- • Joint venture breakdowns and shareholder disputes
- • Distribution and franchise agreement breaches
- • M&A warranty claims and indemnity disputes
- • Construction and infrastructure project disputes
- • Technology and software implementation failures
Typical Funding: These cases often involve £2M-£20M in quantum with clear contractual documentation. Funders like them because liability is usually clear-cut and damages are calculable.
Learn more about cross-border commercial litigation funding →
International Arbitration
International commercial arbitration is one of the most active funding markets globally. This includes:
- • Investment treaty claims (ICSID, UNCITRAL, bilateral investment treaties)
- • Commercial arbitrations (ICC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC)
- • Energy and natural resources disputes
- • Construction and engineering arbitrations (FIDIC contracts)
- • Sovereign debt and financial restructuring disputes
Typical Funding: Arbitrations often cost £3M-£15M+ and take 3-5 years. Funders are highly active here because awards are internationally enforceable and parties are sophisticated.
Intellectual Property Litigation
IP disputes are natural candidates for funding because they're capital-intensive and outcomes can be binary. Funded IP cases include:
- • Patent infringement (especially pharmaceuticals, technology, engineering)
- • Trade secret misappropriation and confidential information breaches
- • Copyright infringement (software, media, publishing)
- • Trademark disputes and passing-off claims
- • Design rights and trade dress infringement
Typical Funding: IP litigation is expensive (£1M-£5M+ typical) and highly technical. Funders often co-invest with patent monetization firms or work on contingency alongside specialist IP counsel.
Competition & Antitrust Claims
Competition law disputes, particularly follow-on damages claims after regulatory findings, are increasingly funded:
- • Cartel damages claims (price-fixing, market allocation)
- • Abuse of dominance litigation
- • Merger challenge litigation
- • Collective actions in the Competition Appeal Tribunal
- • State aid and subsidy control disputes
Typical Funding: Competition claims often involve large claimant groups and substantial quantum (£50M-£500M+). They're particularly suited to funding because individual claimants can't afford to bring them alone.
Insolvency & Restructuring Claims
Insolvency practitioners use funding extensively because insolvent estates typically have no capital:
- • Director misfeasance and breach of duty claims
- • Preference payments and undervalue transactions
- • Wrongful trading claims
- • Fraudulent trading and asset recovery
- • Cross-border insolvency litigation
- • Creditor claims against insolvent companies
Typical Funding: These cases range from £500K to £10M+ depending on estate size. Funders work closely with insolvency practitioners to maximize creditor recoveries.
Professional Negligence
Claims against professionals for breach of duty are regularly funded when quantum is substantial:
- • Legal negligence (solicitors, barristers)
- • Accountancy negligence (audit failures, tax advice)
- • Financial advisor negligence (investment mis-selling, pension advice)
- • Medical negligence (clinical malpractice)
- • Surveyor and valuer negligence
- • Architect and engineer design failures
Typical Funding: Professional negligence cases usually involve £1M-£10M quantum and benefit from defendants being insured (ensuring enforceability). Medical negligence is harder to fund due to lower quantum and higher evidential uncertainty.
Class Actions & Group Litigation
Collective actions where many claimants share similar grievances are ideal for funding:
- • Consumer protection class actions
- • Product liability claims (defective products, pharmaceuticals)
- • Securities litigation and shareholder actions
- • Data breach and privacy violations
- • Environmental damage claims
- • Employment law group claims (discrimination, equal pay)
Typical Funding: Class actions require £5M-£20M+ in funding and span multiple years. Individual claimants couldn't pursue these claims alone, making funding essential for access to justice.
Banking & Financial Services Disputes
Complex financial disputes involving banks, lenders, and investors:
- • Mis-sold financial products (interest rate swaps, derivatives)
- • Loan facility disputes and unfair treatment
- • Banking fraud and asset tracing
- • Securities fraud and investment mis-selling
- • Payment and trade finance disputes
Typical Funding: These cases involve sophisticated financial analysis and expert evidence. Funders look for clear liability and well-documented quantum (£2M-£50M typical).
Emerging & Niche Funding Areas
The litigation funding market continues to evolve. Emerging case types attracting funding include:
Crypto & Blockchain Disputes
Fraud, theft, smart contract failures, and token disputes in the crypto space are increasingly funded as the sector matures and quantum grows.
ESG & Climate Litigation
Environmental damage claims, greenwashing disputes, and corporate accountability cases are attracting funder interest aligned with ESG mandates.
Cyber Security & Data Breach
GDPR violations, ransomware recovery, and cyber incident losses are creating new funding opportunities as digital risks increase.
Sports & Entertainment
Contract disputes, image rights, broadcast agreements, and sponsorship failures in sports and entertainment are emerging funding areas.
What Cases DON'T Get Funded?
Funders typically avoid or heavily scrutinize:
✗ Personal Injury & Clinical Negligence
Most PI cases are too small for commercial funders (handled via CFAs instead). Even high-value clinical negligence is challenging due to evidential complexity and lower quantum relative to costs.
✗ Family Law & Divorce
Maintenance of third-party funding in family matters is prohibited in most jurisdictions. Even where technically legal, funders won't touch domestic relations cases.
✗ Criminal Defense
Funding criminal defense raises obvious champerty and public policy concerns. Not fundable in any mainstream jurisdiction.
✗ Speculative or Weak Cases
If multiple funders decline after due diligence, that's a strong signal your case has merit issues. Funders won't back long-shot claims regardless of quantum.
✗ Cases Below £1M Quantum
Due diligence economics don't work for smaller claims. Some funders do portfolio funding of sub-£1M cases, but it's rare for single-case funding.
Not Sure If Your Case Qualifies?
Audley Capital helps claimants and law firms assess whether cases meet funder criteria and connects them with appropriate funding sources. We work across all major case types in commercial litigation.
Related Articles: What is Litigation Funding? | When to Use Funding | Funding Costs & Pricing | Leading UK Funders
