Each year, millions of individuals confront legal issues especially when it comes to a wrongful firing, a physical injury or a breach of civil rights. However, access to justice is painfully too often based not on the validity of their claim but rather on the level of their bank account.
There are high legal costs. The expenses of the court accumulate fast. And the majority of population cannot afford spending thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars to be given the possibility to hear their voices in the court. This puts a hole in justice so that ordinary citizens are locked out of the courts just because they cannot meet the cost requirement to enter the system.
It’s time for a better way. It’s time to Access Justice, Not Debt.
The Problem: When Justice Becomes a Luxury
The decision is heartbreaking in the mind of many either to adopt a huge debt or to proceed without representation or to drop off their case completely. This cost has turned justice to luxury commodity where only people who can pay off the justice on time can afford it.
Plans of contingency are few. The Legal aid is at an overloading point. And legal fee loans may ultimately put plaintiffs in deep debt fixed on the much higher interest rates even when the plaintiffs lose the case.
The Solution: Litigation Finance
Litigation finance is a powerful and increasingly accessible tool that offers a smarter, fairer alternative.
Litigation finance allows funding the necessary amount of legal fees, court fees, and other expenditures so that individuals do not have to go into debt to invest in a lawsuit. Instead, the funder gets a certain percentage of any settlement or award won in court at the end of the case– provided the case is won. Otherwise, when the plaintiff loses, he does not pay.
This approach:
- Levels the playing field against well-funded opponents
- Reduces the financial risks of pursuing justice
- Increases access to high-quality legal representation
- Empowers people to stand up for their rights without the fear of financial ruin
It’s not just funding—it’s freedom. Freedom from the trap of legal debt. Freedom to fight back.
Who Benefits?
The most common type of litigation finance is civil cases the type civil litigation cases such as employment disputes, personal injury actions, class actions, and commercial litigation on one side and on the other powerful institutions such as large companies face individuals. In such instances, donors come to the rescue of the people that would have no means of affording the battle.
It’s especially impactful for:
- Low- and middle-income individuals
- Small business owners
- Victims of discrimination or corporate misconduct
- Communities seeking class action justice
Justice Shouldn’t Be Pay-to-Play
Democracy thrives on the access to the legal system. Yet, when, no longer an extension of right, legal assistance turns into a luxury of the rich, we lose something core of justice, responsible and trust.
Litigation finance is not a silver bullet, though it is the necessary component of a solution. When applied ethically and transparently, it assists in making sure that individuals do not end up being silenced, or pushed to the margins, because they cannot afford the battle.
We live in hope of a day when the slogan of Access Justice, Not Debt is not just a slogan, it is the reality. With litigation finance, however, that future is attainable.
