21 September 2021

Augustin Nicolle, a partner in the Corporate, M&A and Business Litigation department, answered the questions of “Option Finance” magazine on the issue of “Litigation: Use a financing fund.”

French companies are increasingly faced with two major obstacles in deciding whether to initiate legal action: the length of time the legal system requires to resolve disputes – which is frequently not in line with the real economy – and the cost of the proceedings. To counter these difficulties, there are funds that offer assistance by financing the entire cost of legal proceedings in exchange for a percentage of the compensation ultimately awarded by the courts.

Augustin Nicolle noted: “Although in France access to the courts is free, initiating legal proceedings nevertheless entails costs, such as the fees of lawyers, the use of which is compulsory, as well as the costs for expert reports and analyses, all of which can ultimately be quite significant. International arbitration proceedings can also be very expensive (often several hundred thousand dollars). Using a fund that specialises in litigation financing may therefore be very useful for companies, including large groups, that do not have the funds to finance legal proceedings or that simply wish to use their cash for other purposes.”

Read the full article HERE