They took the legal form, a civilized but costly form.
Unfortunately, the individual or company is not always able to assume the costs and risks associated with legal proceedings.
Swiss Legal Finance, precisely, finances trials in Switzerland.
A sort of response to the difficulties that everyone may encounter in the desire to assert their rights.
Today, look from Ella Zimmermann, its director.
Adding justice to Justice: rebalancing the forces
A business can simultaneously pursue commercial goals and the common good.
It is wrong to read the contradiction where there is only one articulation.
Today, it is necessary to understand the evolving role of businesses in society and Swiss Legal Finance is a prime example.
Its services are ultimately easy to present.
Swiss Legal Finance offers financing for legal or arbitration proceedings, covering all costs for plaintiffs (in particular court, lawyer and expert fees), in exchange for a share of the result in the event of a win. .
In the event of a loss, the unsuccessful plaintiff has nothing to reimburse.
Enough to eliminate the financial risk for individuals or companies, enough to access justice without this budgetary concern which too often sets us back.
In Switzerland and Europe, legal costs are high.
Attorney fees, in themselves, sometimes prevent plaintiffs from asserting their rights in court.
Many abandon their litigation, financially exhausted, or accept settlements that are less than what they could claim.
This involves financing, at all stages of the procedure, offering a solution to those who lack resources or do not wish to expose themselves to high costs.
Is this a way of replaying David against Goliath?
Yes, in some ways, when it comes to funding weak parties versus those with deeper pockets.
But other cases are more strategic, such as a company not wishing to tie up cash during long procedures, especially in the context of litigation of which it does not know the outcome.
Very varied interventions
As an investment company, Swiss Legal Finance needs to diversify its own risk.
It therefore invests in various disputes.
It is the party of reason, but it is also the guarantee of solidity.
Although it is neither possible nor desirable to attempt completeness, we can nevertheless present typical cases:
Contractual or commercial dispute: A broker, for example, who never received his commission, an individual against his bank, consumers against a multinational.
Succession: Let’s think about the conflict between heirs.
A potential beneficiary, when harmed, may find himself in a delicate situation.
Indeed, his legal claim will be all the more expensive as the amounts involved are high.
Intellectual property: the inventor whose technology is used without rights.
Arbitration procedures: They are faster, but more expensive.
Financing is often a necessity.
It should be noted that Swiss Legal Finance covers the entire costs of the procedure and only obtains remuneration in the event of victory.
A guarantee which, very often, presents this recourse as obvious.
In the event of defeat, the customer does not reimburse anything.
Eligibility criteria
They are quite clear.
Swiss Legal Finance assesses the value of the request, its legal bases, the documents available, the solvency of the opposing party, the chances of success and the potential gains.
Finally, and quite naturally, the procedure must be, in one way or another, linked to Switzerland.
Ella Zimmermann tells us the case of a client who came to her, exhausted both financially and psychologically, after long years of procedures.
In front of him, a wall!
No negotiation possible.
Swiss Legal Finance then used a strategy: revealing its presence as a financier in order to make the opposing party react.
Way of saying: “we have the means to resist!”
".
Back to the negotiating table.
Trial financing is still in its infancy.
It still suffers from a lack of visibility.
However, there is an interesting asset here for investors, given its decorrelation with the financial markets.
There will always be trials.
Always.