Contingency Fee Case Financing: Single-Matter Economics and Structure

How individual high-stakes cases are financed, from fee agreement review to single-case economics.

Contingency fee case financing provides capital for an individual high-stakes matter rather than a portfolio, suited to firms or claimants pursuing a single large case that requires significant cost outlay. Where portfolio financing diversifies risk across many matters, single-case financing concentrates on one, which means the underwriting must be especially rigorous: the funder's entire investment in that deal depends on the outcome of a single case, with no other matters to offset an adverse result.

The fee agreement is a foundational document in the underwriting. The funder reviews the contingency fee arrangement between the firm and the claimant to understand how any recovery will be divided and where the funder's return fits in the distribution waterfall. Attorney fees, case expenses, and the funder's return must be ordered consistent with professional responsibility rules, and the funder confirms that its position is properly documented and that the arrangement does not run afoul of fee-splitting prohibitions.

Single-case economics demand careful attention to the realistic range of recovery and the probability of success. Because there is no portfolio to diversify the risk, the funder must be confident that the expected value, the recovery discounted for the probability of success and the time to resolution, comfortably supports the required return. A single-case investment that looks attractive only under optimistic assumptions is dangerous, because there is no margin of safety from other matters if the case underperforms.

Attorney conflict and control issues require particular care in single-case deals, because the funder's economic interest is concentrated in one matter. Funding agreements must preserve the attorney's independent professional judgment and the client's control over the case and settlement, with non-interference provisions that comply with the applicable ethics rules. The funder monitors the matter but does not direct it, even though its entire investment in the deal rides on the outcome.

Criterica Capital structures single-case financing for high-stakes matters, evaluating the realistic recovery range against outcome models trained on 106M+ court records to ensure the expected value supports the investment. This grounds concentrated, single-case underwriting in observed outcomes. Firms and claimants with significant individual cases can contact our institutional team to discuss financing.

Discuss your matter with our institutional team.