Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Negotiating control in litigation funding agreements: litigant conduct, funder consent to settlement, key decisions and professional duties (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

Although every litigation funding agreement (LFA), together with its associated documents, will differ according to the funder and the particularities of the matter being financed, there are recurring issues that must be addressed throughout the negotiation stages. This Practice Note is part of a short series of Practice Notes by Tanya Lansky and Tets Ishikawa, Managing Directors of LionFish Group Ltd, created to give those negotiating or assessing LFAs and their accompanying documents a clearer grasp of the factors in play.

Control

A frequent question for stakeholders considering litigation funding is how a funder’s involvement in a financed case might translate into control. Funders should not be directing a funded claim; this is commonly handled by an express clause confirming that the litigant retains sole conduct of the proceedings. However, when negotiating an LFA, one should be alert to the nuances that can attach to any such clause, and how they operate in practice and in the day-to-day conduct of the dispute.

Useful context

In Akhmedova v Akhmedov, a high-profile divorce matter, Mrs Akhmedova obtained a £453m judgment in 2016. Mr Akhmedov did not adhere to that order. Mrs Akhmedova’s position was funded by Burford Capital...

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Tets Ishikawa

LionFish Group Ltd

Tets started his career as a derivatives structurer and securitisation banker at ABN AMRO, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. He was subsequently a founding partner of Amias Berman, a fixed income agency brokerage, and has invested in, advised and ran a wide range of businesses across technology, aviation, commercial agriculture, sports and chemicals. He is currently a NED and Adviser to Brickflow, a real estate loan sourcing software company. Tets was first involved in litigation funding in 2011, raising capital for an impecunious client in a high value claim against a bank. He also advised an ATE insurer (latterly known as Acasta) on litigation funding, culminating in the founding of Sparkle Capital in 2014. Having helped found and establish the business, Tets was hired full-time in 2018 by Acasta to join its senior management team, with day to day...

Tanya Lansky

LionFish Group Ltd

Tanya has been working in the disputes financing and insurance industries for close to a decade. Having started her career at TheJudge Global, the then independent specialist broker of litigation insurance and funding, Tanya became immersed in this specialist market in its relative infancy. Beyond her role of negotiating and structuring insurance and financing agreements, Tanya also dedicated time to educating lawyers and counsel on the nuances of the industry. Following her time as specialist broker, Tanya joined boutique advisory firm Emissary Partners to leverage her relationships in the litigation funding market as well as her economic understanding of disputes as an asset. In 2022 she joined London-based litigation funder LionFish, and, given her extensive experience, became part of the firm’s management team in short order. ...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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