Presenting a client’s case to a litigation funder.

A funder is paid out of the sums your client recovers, and only if the case succeeds. It therefore checks the amount at stake, the opposing party’s solvency, the limitation period, the completeness of the documents, and the cost and length of the proceedings. The lawyer who presents a matter to a funder quantifies the loss from the evidence, draws up a budget for each stage and flags its weaknesses from the outset. Hello Justice funds your clients’ cases from €100,000 at stake, against a solvent opposing party.

What a funder examines.

In litigation funding, the funder pays the lawyer’s fees while the proceedings run. In return, it receives a share of the sums recovered, and nothing is owed to it if the lawsuit is lost. It therefore weighs what the judgment may bring in against the cost and duration of the dispute. Each point of this review rests on material the lawyer can gather before presenting the matter.

An amount at stake backed by the documents.

The amount at stake is the amount claimed or reasonably recoverable in a dispute, and it is measured from the compensable loss, the evidence and the applicable assessment rules. At submission, an estimate of the sum involved is enough, and the analysis starts by putting a figure on it.

A calculation that links each head of loss to its supporting document (a contract, an invoice, a report or an expert opinion) can be checked directly. An amount estimated without evidence forces the analysis to rebuild it instead.

Under the €100,000 threshold that Hello Justice applies, third‑party funding is rarely justified. The eligibility test then points to other routes, such as legal expenses insurance or legal aid. Disputes worth €100,000 to €1 million make up the mid‑market, the segment we are dedicated to. Above it, the large international funders step in: Burford Capital, listed in New York and London, targets cases of at least $5m, according to its publications Source [1].

The opposing party’s solvency.

A favourable decision against an insolvent debtor results in no recovery, so the funder checks that the party ordered to pay will be able to do so. Hello Justice’s eligibility test already asks this question, distinguishing banks and insurers, large companies, SMEs, public entities and individuals.

Insolvency proceedings opened against a business are published in the BODACC, the French official bulletin of civil and commercial notices Source [2]. If the decision is not paid, its enforcement goes through measures carried out by a commissaire de justice, such as seizure Source [3]. Your presentation therefore benefits from giving the opponent’s exact identity and what you know of its situation.

The limitation period and the case documents.

The limitation period marks the point beyond which a legal action is no longer admissible. In civil matters, the ordinary time limit is five years, and article 2224 of the French Civil Code starts it running “from the day on which the holder of a right knew or should have known the facts enabling them to exercise it” Source [4]. Some areas of law have their own rules.

A specialised partner lawyer checks this point before any funding. Documents that date the facts and show when your client learned of them make it unnecessary to rebuild the timeline.

The case then brings together the essential material: the contract, the exchanges with the opposing party and the evidence of the loss. Formal notices and decisions already handed down place the matter within the proceedings, which indicates how long it is likely to last.

The weaknesses of the case.

At Hello Justice, the funding opinion sets out what argues for the case and what argues against it, and an unfavourable opinion always states its reasons. A weakness the presentation omits remains visible in the documents provided.

Flagging it from the outset, with whatever puts it in perspective, allows it to be weighed against the matter as a whole. It may be a missing document, a disputed limitation date or an unfavourable decision on the same question. Your client receives the report and the opinion before any commitment.

A budget for each stage of the proceedings.

The agreement sets your fees and their schedule: fixed fee, instalments tied to the stages of the proceedings, and success fee where applicable. Hello Justice pays them on the agreed dates, and your client does not advance them. A budget presented stage by stage therefore prepares this part of the agreement, from first instance to any appeal.

Across the cases we review, high‑stakes proceedings absorb €30,000 to more than €300,000 in fees and costs. Funding only makes sense if the sums at stake clearly exceed that cost.

A success fee is lawful only in addition to a fee for the work performed Source [5]. The Act of 31 December 1971 prohibits the pactum de quota litis, under which your remuneration would depend solely on the outcome of the case. Third‑party funding does not change this rule.

Professional secrecy and the client’s consent.

Professional secrecy covers your exchanges with your client (article 66-5 of the Act of 31 December 1971) Source [5]. The Paris Bar Council addressed third‑party litigation funding in a resolution of 21 February 2017 Source [6]. Under that text, the lawyer takes instructions only from the person they represent, refrains from passing any information about the case to the funder, and avoids meeting the funder without their client.

At Hello Justice, no information covered by professional secrecy is passed on without the client’s written consent. Submission is confidential, and nothing is disclosed to the opposing party. We only read the documents the analysis needs, and we do not attend your exchanges with your client. Before the presentation, you therefore agree with them in writing on the documents they send us, or that you send us on their behalf where your bar’s rules allow it.

How a case proceeds at Hello Justice.

1. The eligibility test, which is free, asks six questions about the dispute and gives a first indication.
2. You then submit the case online, with its description and the material you have, at no cost and in confidence.
3. A specialised partner lawyer reviews its eligibility: the features of the dispute, the limitation period, the completeness of the documents and reasonable prospects of success. Not every case is accepted, and for those that are, a member of the team calls you.
4. If you request funding for your client, Hello Justice reviews the matter from a financial standpoint: amount at stake, solvency of the other side, length and cost of the proceedings. A written report concludes the analysis, with a favourable or unfavourable opinion.
5. For an accepted case, your client, you and Hello Justice sign the tripartite fee agreement, and you then run the proceedings.

Funding for your client’s case.

Outside the Swiss franc loan programme, the eligibility test and submission are free of charge. If you request funding for your client, the case analysis costs €1,500 excluding VAT (€1,800 including VAT). This flat fee remains due even if the opinion is unfavourable, as it remunerates the work done.

If the case is funded, Hello Justice pays your fees. Its commission amounts to 14 to 30% including VAT of the sums your client recovers, only in the event of success, at a rate set before any commitment. If the case is lost, nothing is owed to Hello Justice, and the procedural indemnity under article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure is dealt with in the agreement Source [7].

For a Swiss franc loan, checking it is free and the programme has its own terms.

The tripartite fee agreement.

A lawyer’s fees are set with the client in a written agreement (article 10 of the Act of 31 December 1971) Source [5]. Litigation funding rests on freedom of contract, and the Versailles Court of Appeal recognised its validity on 1 June 2006 Source [8]. The National Bar Council (CNB) considered the practice favourable to access to justice in a resolution of 20 and 21 November 2015 Source [9]. It set two conditions: the lawyer keeps their independence, and the litigant remains their only client.

At Hello Justice, these commitments sit in a single document, the tripartite fee agreement, which all three parties sign. It sets the scope of the funding, your remuneration, its schedule and our commission. You alone run the proceedings: strategy, submissions, hearings and negotiation. Hello Justice has no mandate to represent your client and no power to give you instructions, and professional secrecy remains intact.

The decision to accept or refuse a settlement offer rests with the litigant, on your advice. If the case succeeds, the opposing party pays the sums due into your CARPA account, which your bar supervises, and they are then shared out under the agreement Source [5]. If it fails, the fees already paid to you remain yours, and your success fee, if one is agreed, is not payable, since nothing has been recovered.

To put forward a client’s case, start with the eligibility test or submit it directly. The lawyers page sets out the agreement and the network of specialised partner lawyers.

Frequently asked questions.

Do I have to be a partner lawyer to present a client’s case?

No. You can submit a client’s case without belonging to the network, and your client keeps counsel of their choice. The specialised partner lawyers review the eligibility of matters in their field.

How much does the analysis of a client’s case cost?

Outside the Swiss franc loan programme, the case analysis is charged €1,500 excluding VAT (€1,800 including VAT). It ends with a written report and a funding opinion, favourable or not, and is due whatever it concludes. The eligibility test and submission are free of charge.

Does funding change my relationship with my client?

No. You remain their lawyer, and the agreement writes down what professional ethics already required, namely your independence and where payments go. Hello Justice pays your fees as the proceedings go on, and your client does not advance them.

What happens if the case is not accepted?

Hello Justice does not fund the case, and an unfavourable opinion always states its reasons. Your client remains free to pursue the matter with the lawyer of their choice, and the documents submitted remain theirs. If the financial analysis took place, its fee is still due.