In the firm’s 2016 Litigation Finance Survey, 28 per cent of private practice lawyers said their firm had used litigation finance directly, a fourfold increase from a similar survey in 2013. The majority of lawyers also expect litigation financing will grow in the next five years, with 75 per cent of outside counsel and 61 per cent of clients believing that to be true. 

Changing business model

‘What we’ve found is that the growth in corporate finance for law not only reflects the enormous need for outside capital,’ said Burford’s CEO Christopher Bogart. ‘It also coincides with a broad array of changes in the traditional business model for law, which can help law firms thrive and provide high quality counsel in a new environment.’

Lack of capital

The survey also showed that 81 per cent of private practice lawyers believe that a lack of capital to invest in the firm is a significant challenge, exacerbated by the capital structure of the partnership based system.