9 July 2020
Arbitration provides an alternative to litigation pursued through jurisdictional courts, which offers flexibility and control to the parties involved in a dispute, but which is often costly due to the complex commercial nature of the dispute (particular where the dispute involves transnational parties and raises issues of conflicts of laws) and the sophisticated, specialist counsel at premier law firms engaged by the parties to assist in its resolution. In a 2018 survey produced by White & Case in partnership with the School of International Arbitration, 67% of survey respondents, which included private practitioners, full-time arbitrators, in-house counsel, experts and other stakeholders, indicated that the cost of the process was the worst feature of International arbitration. While the cost of International arbitration most likely reflects the complex, commercial and often cross-border nature of the disputes being arbitrated, rather than any inefficiency of arbitration procedures or the parties involved, it can be burdensome on claimants. Increasingly third-party funding is sought to ease the pressure of these burdens.
Third-party funding allows impecunious claimants to pursue meritorious claims, who ordinarily might not have the resources to seek the redress they are entitled to. It can also be used to allow well-resourced claimants to hedge their legal costs risk and reduce the burden of legal costs on their balance sheet.
You can read our whitepaper, Funding for International Arbitration PDF here.
For further information, please contact:
Steven Savage, WoodsFord Litigation Funding
ssavage@woodsfordlf.com
