Case Study 2
In June 2020 GRP brought to fruition a multi-million-dollar traditional litigation finance deal for a start-up US-based law firm; having provided two rounds of early stage funding since 2019.
GRP had the opportunity to work with a two partner spin-out law firm seeking funding to finance a high-profile follow-on antitrust action on behalf of a blue-chip US corporate client. Our client needed expedient access to funding to springboard their new venture, paydown pending case expenses and ensure their firm was sufficiently well capitalised to deliver for their clients.
“Believing in people and partnerships”
As a start-up firm seeking non-recourse funding with limited alternative collateral the situation presented unique challenges for a funder. Having met with our clients in person and establishing a relationship GRP was able to progress through frank and open discussions around the scope and purpose of personal guarantees; and learn to understand and empathise with the human element and difficulties for individuals starting a business. Layered upon the human capital placed in the transaction, GRP drew upon its extensive antitrust experience and aided by strong case merit fundamentals and high-quality clients to construct a two-part funding solution to meet our clients’ requirements for fast access to capital. In the initial instance this involved a seed and subsequent interim facility to cover immediate operating and management costs, including case expenses and economist work that would help further build case value; paving the way for a larger multi-million commitment and funding agreement to service the case budget through to completion.
Following collaborative consultation with the client GRP engineered a risk-sharing structure that included lower-level client participation coupled with a step-down pricing waterfall to reward client performance and ensure mutually aligned incentives across all case scenarios. To facilitate this type of structure for a new entity GRP leveraged both internal antitrust expertise including extensive econometric damages analysis to both de-risk the investment from a funder’s standpoint and still offer an attractive and equitable solution to the client.
To date the case has gone from strength to strength with the new firm well positioned to deliver an excellent result for their clients and set up their new firm well and establish their practice for future business opportunities.