Escalate is a multi award-winning commercial dispute service that removes all financial risk and targets a prompt settlement for SME claimants.
Over £40 billion a year is written off by SMEs, with high upfront costs, financial risks and a slow process all contributing to the fragility of the commercial dispute market. Co-founders Chris Clay and Nick Harvey set out to bring the dispute ‘supply chain’ together as a collaborative venture involving accountancy firms, funders and insurers, encouraging everyone to assess the issues in a fresh way.
Our all-in-one packaged solution provides built in legal expertise, case funding, and full cost protection against case loss – all for a capped fee which is only payable upon a successful outcome, with no upfront costs. We're already helping to unlock more than £100 million of cash for businesses in a variety of commercial disputes, including debt recovery, breach of contract, shareholder disputes, partnership disputes, insolvency applications and professional negligence.
Whether a commercial dispute is at the start of its journey or has already progressed and is now stalled due to funding constraints or worries about financial risk, we can work with SMEs and their current advisers to help unlock the dispute. Cases that are accepted for Escalate benefit immediately from the transfer of all financial cost and risk to a regulated law firm.
Escalate's awards collection includes 'Legal Services Innovation Award' at the 2018 British Legal Awards, ‘Excellence in Business Development’ at the Law Society Excellence Awards, ‘Best Collaboration Initiative’ at the Lawyer Awards, and ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the 2017 British Accountancy Awards. We also won ‘Innovation of the Year’ at the Modern Legal Awards 2020, and 'Supplier of the Year' at the British Credit Awards 2022.
