Access to justice remains one of the biggest challenges in Family Law. For many clients, the financial burden of legal disputes can be overwhelming, creating barriers to fair outcomes. JustFund is changing that. We sat down with co-founder Jack O’Donnell to ask him some questions.
What inspired the creation of JustFund?
“Andy and I were both working as lawyers in Sydney. I remember sitting at the reception desk at lunchtime and getting calls from individuals going through separation. They were asking about costs and payment options—whether the firm offered payment plans, legal aid, or deferred fee arrangements. At that point, the answer was unfortunately no. I remember thinking how inflexible the system was when it came to payment. That wasn’t a criticism of family lawyers—most of them are small business owners who need to cover their costs—but it struck me how inaccessible legal services were for many people.
Fast forward a few years—Andy and I both spent time working in private practice and saw first hand how hard it was for clients to pay legal bills. That’s when we decided to do something about it.”
What are some common misconceptions about legal funding?
“One big misconception is that funding is only available for cases already in litigation. Traditionally the term “litigation funding” has been tied to clients who are already in court, but that’s not what JustFund does. Only a small percentage of our clients end up in court. Most settle their cases through private mediation, which is exactly what we wanted to achieve when we started JustFund. Our goal has always been to help people achieve fair outcomes as efficiently as possible, with the support of the best legal team.
Another misconception is that you need to have direct access to the property pool to qualify for funding. We can help those that traditional banks or lenders wouldn’t support—for example, primary carers of children who might not have financial resources or those who aren’t listed on property titles. Traditional banks focus on whether you’re listed on the property title, but the family court looks at the relationship itself and the contributions made during the relationship. That’s where we come in.
A further misconception is that the process of securing funding is complicated and time-consuming for lawyers. We’ve made it a core part of our service to simplify the process. For example, we don’t require lengthy case summaries from family lawyers. We have an in-house family law team that handles the heavy lifting—reading material, preparing the application, and making the assessment. That means less work for the lawyer and a quicker outcome for the client.”
What does the funding process look like for clients and their lawyers?
“Clients usually learn about us through their family lawyer. They apply online through our website, completing a short form. After that, we contact the client’s lawyer and request any relevant documentation that helps us understand the client’s circumstances and entitlement to relationship assets.
The kind of information we request from lawyers includes financial disclosure material—bank account balances, property details, valuations and information about debts and liabilities. Lawyers can disclose this information without breaching confidentiality because the client consents to the release of this information when they apply for funding (See Willmann & Willmann (No 6) [2023] FedCFamC1F 197).
We’ve designed the process to be as easy as possible for family lawyers. We rely on existing disclosure documents and correspondence to assess the funding request.
We review the material, make an assessment, and provide a decision to the client and their lawyer as quickly as possible.”
How are interest rates determined?
“We offer an interest rate of 9.85% charged on the total amount drawn, starting from the date of the first invoice payment.
Clients only pay interest on the funds they actually use—if they don’t draw the full approved amount, they’re only charged interest on what’s been used. Clients are informed of the total repayment amount, including fees and interest, before they accept the funding. We are fully transparent—there are no hidden fees or compounding interest.
We don’t require repayments until the case has concluded and the client has received their settlement.”
What happens if the funding runs out or more is needed?
“We tell clients to apply only for what they need at that point in time. If there’s a good chance the case will settle at mediation in six months, then they should apply for enough to cover that period. But if more is needed later, we can reassess and provide additional funding. There’s no penalty or new application fee if they need to increase the funding”.
Can you tell me about Navio and how it integrates with JustFund?
“Navio is our new client engagement platform, which we provide to all law firms in our network free of charge, if they choose to use it.
We launched Navio in response to feedback from firms that found our application process and forms really intuitive and easy to use. Lawyers were looking for a way to capture key client information more efficiently during the onboarding phase—to make that first touchpoint with clients more impactful and to reduce unnecessary admin. The goal is to ensure that lawyers can spend more time focused on value-driven, strategic conversations with their clients rather than getting bogged down in paperwork.
We provide firms with links to Navio, and they can integrate it however they prefer. This means that clients have the opportunity to learn about their payment options from the very beginning, which helps reduce uncertainty and makes the whole process smoother.”
JustFund is proving that financial barriers don’t have to stand in the way of justice. By offering flexible funding options and a streamlined process, Jack, Andy and the team are helping clients access the legal support they need while giving law firms greater financial certainty.
