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We help companies, law firms, investors, and claimants navigate the complex world of litigation finance through independent research, education, and AI-assisted matching.
Straight answers on how litigation finance actually works.
Litigation finance (also called litigation funding or legal finance) is non-recourse capital that a third party provides to a claimant, law firm, or company to help pursue litigation or arbitration. It's repaid from case proceeds only if the case succeeds, if it fails, the claimant typically owes nothing back out of pocket.
The global litigation funding investment market is estimated at roughly $25.8 billion in 2026, growing at a compound rate above 13% annually as more claimants, law firms, and companies use outside capital to manage litigation risk.
Funders segment sharply by claim size: marketplace and algorithmic funders will look at claims under $250,000, a middle-market tier is purpose-built for the roughly $250,000-$4,000,000 range, and the largest institutional funders often set minimums of $100 million or more. Smaller claims frequently fall below the effective minimums of the biggest funders because fixed underwriting and diligence costs make them uneconomical at scale.
The industry includes large generalist institutional funders such as Burford Capital, Omni Bridgeway, and Fortress; middle-market specialists such as Statera Capital and Validity Finance; and practice-area specialists focused on patent/IP, securities, judgment enforcement, or construction and energy disputes. Our Meet the Financiers directory profiles 40 funders with sourced investment criteria.
Generally, no. Personal injury and mass tort claims are largely excluded by generalist commercial litigation funders and are instead served by a distinct, smaller set of specialists. Most institutional litigation funders focus on commercial, IP, securities, and similar business disputes rather than personal injury.
Funders converge on a similar underwriting checklist: legal merit, quality of counsel, collectability (whether the defendant can actually pay a judgment), expected case duration, and claim size relative to fixed diligence costs. Our Meritoriousness Academy walks through this framework in more detail.