The Comprehensive Guide to Litigation Finance

By Certum Group Team June 20, 2024

Title: The Comprehensive Guide to Litigation Finance. Signpost in dusk setting. Certum Group logo.

Here at Certum, we believe two things about litigation funding are true.

First, litigation finance can help litigants and law firms better achieve their legal and business goals by shifting the risk and expense of affirmative litigation.

Second, the funding process is too often too opaque, too long, and too complex.

In response to this challenge, we developed our Guide to Litigation Finance. This comprehensive resource is designed to bring clarity and simplicity to the litigation funding process, empowering litigants and law firms to navigate it with confidence.

The Guide provides a detailed walkthrough of the funding process, offering tips on how to secure funding for your case. It explains the various components of a term sheet, defines key terms, and provides insights specific to patent cases, ensuring that you are well-equipped to engage with potential funders effectively.

Our Guide also covers foundational concepts and definitions of litigation finance, giving you a solid understanding of its principles. It offers an overview of the funding process, outlining the key steps involved from application to disbursement.

For those seeking funding, the Guide offers a sample outline for a memo to litigation funders, guiding you on how to effectively present your case for funding consideration. Additionally, it provides a review of the key terms typically found in a litigation finance term sheet, helping you understand and negotiate the terms of your funding agreement.

Whether you are a law firm, in-house counsel, or an individual litigant, this guide is an essential resource that provides you with the information needed to make informed decisions about litigation finance.

Litigation funding has emerged as a powerful tool for leveling the legal playing field, particularly for smaller litigants or those with limited financial resources. By providing access to capital, litigation finance enables litigants to pursue their claims vigorously without the fear of being outspent by better-funded opponents. This not only enhances access to justice but also promotes fairness in the legal system.

Litigation finance also has significant strategic benefits for law firms. By offloading the financial risk of litigation to a third-party funder, law firms can take on cases that they might otherwise have to turn down due to financial constraints. This allows them to expand their practice areas, take on more complex cases, and ultimately grow their business. Offering alternative fee arrangements with funding also helps law firms better compete for clients. 

For businesses, litigation finance can be a valuable tool for managing legal costs and risks. By funding litigation through a third-party funder, businesses can avoid tying up their own capital in lengthy legal proceedings. This can be especially beneficial for companies facing financial challenges or looking to preserve cash for other strategic initiatives.

Litigation finance has the potential to transform the legal landscape by providing litigants and law firms with the financial resources they need to pursue meritorious claims. However, to fully realize its benefits, it is essential that the funding process is transparent, efficient, and accessible to all. Certum’s Guide to Litigation Finance is a step towards achieving this goal.

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By Certum Team March 5, 2026
Above the Law, a leading blog focused on the legal industry, recently highlighted Certum Group’s litigation finance fellowship, noting the opportunity for law students and business students to gain “a four-week, hands-on immersion in what it actually looks like when capital meets complex litigation.” “To succeed, lawyers need to understand not only doctrine but also finance. Law schools are beginning to reflect that shift, and students want to understand it,” Certum’s William Marra told Above the Law. “Our Summer Fellowship is about opening that door for both law and business students, and giving them meaningful exposure to the capital side of litigation.”  Applications for the fellowship are due on March 31, 2026, and should include a resume, law school transcript, and a brief 250-word statement of interest. Applications should be sent to SummerFellowship@CertumGroup.com . Above the Law’s coverage is available here , and Certum’s application page for the fellowship is available here .
By Certum Group March 2, 2026
For the third consecutive year, Certum Group will host one or more summer fellows, introducing accomplished law students and business students to the growing field of litigation finance. The Certum Group Litigation Finance Fellowship provides top law students with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the rapidly growing fields of litigation finance and litigation insurance. Fellows will evaluate litigation funding submissions, draft memoranda analyzing legal and damages issues, help structure and negotiate funding agreements, and contribute to marketing and business development initiatives. They will work closely with Certum’s experienced team of litigation finance, litigation insurance, and investment professionals. Throughout the program, Fellows will develop a practical understanding of how claimholders, law firms, insurers, and capital providers assess litigation risk — and how capital can be deployed as a strategic tool in complex disputes. Further information about the fellowship and instructions about how to apply are available here.
By Certum Group February 24, 2026
Columbia Law School’s blog on corporations and the public markets, The CLS Blue Sky Blog, recently featured the scholarly work on litigation finance written by Indiana University Business School Professor Suneal Bedi and Certum’s William C. Marra. In their blog post, Bedi and Marra discuss their article Litigation Finance in the Market Square , which was recently published in the Southern California Law Review. Their work reframes litigation finance as a capital markets innovation rather than solely a civil justice mechanism. While much of the public debate has centered on questions of disclosure, control, and settlement incentives, Bedi and Marra emphasize that legal claims often represent significant but illiquid contingent assets on a firm’s balance sheet. When policymakers regulate litigation finance, they are regulating not just the legal business but the capital markets. And they are regulating capital markets in a way that is more likely to harm small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) while protecting large companies from competition.  The full blog post is available here.