Unjust Enrichment

An equitable cause of action seeking to recover a benefit that the defendant wrongfully obtained at the plaintiff's expense, even where no formal contract exists between the parties. In commercial litigation, unjust enrichment claims often accompany or substitute for breach of contract claims, particularly when the parties' relationship falls outside a written agreement. From a funding perspective, unjust enrichment claims present a distinctive damages profile — recovery is measured by what the defendant gained rather than what the plaintiff lost, which can produce higher or lower figures depending on the facts. Funders evaluate whether the enrichment is quantifiable, traceable to a specific transaction, and defensible under applicable state law.

Because unjust enrichment measures the defendant's gain rather than the plaintiff's loss, funders sometimes find it produces a more defensible number than a contract damages theory when the plaintiff's own losses are hard to quantify — a defendant's financial records showing what it actually gained can be more concrete than a projection of what the plaintiff would have earned. Funders test whether the claimed enrichment is traceable to a specific transaction, since a diffuse enrichment theory is harder to prove and easier for a defendant to contest.