In what may be the first public example of a litigation funder investing in a law firm's portfolio of contingent fee cases, Los Angeles-based litigation boutique Pierce Sergenian unveiled Wednesday a tie-up with Scottsdale, Arizona-based litigation financier Pravati Capital.

The move by Pierce Sergenian, formed in January by two former Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan litigators, will see Pravati fund a spate of current and future contingency fee cases that the upstart firm has against some of the largest companies—and their high-powered defense lawyers—in the country.

In return, Pierce Sergenian will send to Pravati a cut of any potential damages awards it obtains for its clients. The litigation finance industry has talked much about its desire to do such deals, and Burford Capital LLC, the world's largest litigation funder, has said that it provided $100 million and $50 million, respectively, to two unnamed firms.