November 5, 2023
Contigent Fee Insurance

In this video blog, Kevin Skrzysowski, Director at Certum Group, provides an overview of Contingent Fee Insurance.
- Contingent fee insurance, commonly referred to as WIP Insurance which stands for “work in progress” provides a guarantee that a lawyer who is handling a matter on a contingent fee basis, or a company that has a contingent claim will receive all or part of the time and expenses they have invested in a case regardless of outcome.
- In exchange for a fixed premium to a bespoke policy, the law firm or company holding a claim can receive downside protection preventing a total loss of time and materials incurred prosecuting the litigation.
- The risk goes through an underwriting process by insurance underwriters who specialize in creating litigation insurance solutions for known, threatened, or pending litigation.
- This underwriting process usually requires substantial diligence.
- Once the insurer has completed the underwrite, it will usually engage in a Q&A with the law firm (for any items that might need clarification).
- Determine what the firm or company’s legal, business, and financial objectives are.
- If the risk is insurable, the insurer will propose policy terms and pricing.
- A one-time premium to a bespoke policy which transfers up to 100% of the risk to the insurer.
- Provides certainty: regardless of what happens in the case, the law firm will recover its WIP and expenses.
- It also helps with litigation funding. Here’s how: often, law firms will seek funding of their fees and third-party expenses from financial institutions including litigation funders. Instead of going to the funding market first, companies or law firms can look to insurance to remove the outcome risk.
- If the risk is secured then non-recourse funding becomes recourse funding because the insurance is now the collateral and the law firm can borrow at the most efficient cost of capital.
- Leveraging the insurance also allows law firms to pursue claims they may otherwise turn down due to fear of not being able to collect sizable fees and expenses.
- And lastly, it can facilitate settlement as Contingent Fee Insurance can provide the leverage needed to mitigate any notion that a cash-strapped plaintiff will settle on the cheap.
The post Contigent Fee Insurance appeared first on Certum Group.
Recent Content

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
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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.
