Taurus Litigation Funding

Taurus are specialist litigation funders focussing on high-value commercial litigation. Litigation funding is a transaction whereby a third party provides non-recourse funding to a litigant for its legal costs in return for a share of a favourable outcome. The transaction is an investment and not a loan or any other traditional secured finance transaction. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, litigation funding has become a popular solution for litigants as a way to mitigate or hedge the cost and risk of commercial litigation. Litigation funding (also known as champerty) has been declared lawful and encouraged by the South African courts since 2004 following the Supreme Court of Appeal judgement in Price Waterhouse Coopers Inc and Others v National Potato Co-operative Ltd (448/2003) [2004] ZA SCA 64; [2004] 3 All SA 20 (SCA). Litigation funding has gained traction in South Africa over the last five years. It provides a litigant with an opportunity to secure the best legal teams for their case while also allowing them to focus their capital on income-generating activities as opposed to the burden of legal fees.