In what situations can Legal Finance be availed?

In what situations can Legal Finance be availed?

Legal finance perhaps comes as one of the most easy options of acquiring cash advance which target at lawsuit funding requirements of the claimant  who has either filed his case or is about to file it in the court. In United States, this form of legal funding is quite common and offered in situations where a plaintiff needs hard cash money to cover up for his financial liabilities that might place him under heavy mental and physical pressure and seriously affect his case.

What should be nature of your litigation?

However, these loans cannot be acquired in any and every legal case. Also called lawsuit loans they promise to meet out all types of litigation costs at the expense of the cash advance received. So, shall we not have a look at those eligible cases which are entitled for a lawsuit settlement loan amount?

The widespread usage of these pre settlement loans is prevalent in settlement or proceedings of several cases which may include personal injury cases, structured settlement cases, violation of civil right cases, worker compensation cases or business-related disputes. Though the final decision lays in the hands of lawsuit settlement loans provider who depending on your probability of winning the case may decide whether to proffer you with the cash advance for your lawsuit settlement or not.

Moreover, the lawsuit loan amount offered by the commercial litigation funding agency may be different from one case to another. However, on an average, the lawsuit settlement funding loan amount varies between 10-15 percent of the value of the expected judgment. This is rightly done by the funding agency that have all the authority to ensure that they are on low risk side; and account for those conditions in which their borrower may lose his case and therefore the they automatically lose whole of their settlement loan amount.

What all contributes to working of Legal Funding industry?

Though the term ‘legal funding’ might be well known and understood by individuals who are either lawyers or plaintiffs, it might be a relatively newer word for the claimant who has yet to file his case in the court. However, before I proceed further to explain you how do the whole process of lawsuit settlement funding work, let me offer you with its brief overview. Perhaps you might have got little idea about the nature of this legal finance funding after reading its name, yet I’m sure you might not be fully aware of its purpose. So, let’s start with it.

While this lawsuit funding is the non-recourse lawsuit loan amount that comes as a primary aid option for litigants whose case is still in the jurisdiction of court, it is not the money which should be spent lavishly. Since this commercial litigation funding is an expensive mode of loan financing that can be put to various uses both by the law firm and the plaintiff, the settlement loan should be used judiciously i.e. for legal proceedings, paying attorney’s fee and meeting other financial needs that are most urgent ones. The received cash advance normally varies between 10 to 15 percent of the total worth of your case that is calculated on its chances of win. However this amount can be used for payment of medical bills, mortgage amounts and education loans etc.

There are four major determinants of this funding agency. These are the plaintiffs commonly called clients, the brokers, the pre settlement funding agency or the lawsuit settlement firm and the attorney or the legal advisor. While each one has its own set of responsibilities and roles, they all are vital to the success of lawsuit loans industry. As a consequence, if anyone from the four tends to miss out from the picture it may seriously affect the functioning of the industry.

What requirements do Pre settlement Loans cater to?

What requirements do Pre settlement Loans cater to?

These types of debts truly symbolize their name which simply means that pre settlement loans are basically those lawsuit loans that act as finance origins and are required by the plaintiffs to fulfill their pre settlement issues relating to finances. Since they are offered to attorneys, law firms or respondents on behalf of the plaintiff’s lawsuit which still is awaiting a trial in court, they tend to bear some typical features in comparison to normal loan category.

Characteristic features of lawsuit debts-

Firstly, these pre settlement loans are granted to plaintiffs in acute emergency conditions when they are left with no other source of funding. Though a good number of people try to use this legal funding amount for enjoyment purposes too which is not at all correct.

Secondly, this mode of lawsuit funding bears the common characteristics of settlement loans and therefore does not necessitate its repayment option if the respondent is faced with a lost verdict. However, the plaintiff is still open for applying his case in the higher court which means the lawsuit settlement firm can expect to get back their cash advance. Though till that time, the common practice of pre settlement of loan repayment by the plaintiff holds only if he or she wins the case in court’s jurisdiction.

Thirdly, they come bundled with heavy application or processing fee charges. Though, this might not be applicable to all the lawsuit settlement funding firms. But it is good to always check all these beforehand before you may victim to unknown dangers and hidden costs.

However, the lawsuit settlement funding amount can be put to virtually any use-in the payment of credit card bills, electricity bills, school fee amount, hospital bills and purchasing of books or tax payments.

So, a nice tip from my side would be to avail these loans from a reliable funding agency and use the advance amount sensibly!

When to go for Settlement Loans?

Before you just honk and rush towards any settlement loans provider, you need to analyze your lawsuit condition. Just go through the following thoroughly.

Are there are sufficient funds available from other finance sources which could be met out without acquiring a settlement loan? Do you really need money to clear off your dues or can you manage them by taking loan from any of your family members? Is the lawsuit loan amount big enough and are you finding yourself in a precarious condition with no other option left except to get your lawsuit settlement loan sanctioned? Is your bad credit score killing your candidature for availing a legal funding loan from bank? Since your credit card dues too are pending, you are not entitled to get a loan from them either.

If most of the conditions or questions are befitting your situation then you have no other choice of funding except to contact a lawsuit settlement funding company. However, let me bestow you with some knowledge on this legal finance option before you get away with it. This will definitely make your decision making process better and smoother.

  • The lawsuit funding or the lawsuit loans are granted upon by the commercial litigation funding agency only when they find that your litigation filing application, or in short your case is standing on a strong winning background.
  • A percentage share is agreed upon between the lawsuit settlement loans and the client (plaintiff) while attorney acts as an intermediary body and everything from both the ends passes through him or her.

You are entitled to repay the presettlement loan, only and when you win the case else not.  That means you do not need to pay back the loan amount if unluckily you lose your legal battle. Though few companies charge something or they may become the owner of your collateral for settling down loan amount that was borrowed by you during your litigation.

Settlement Loans act as better choices in comparison to payday loans.

Though quite popular in countries like United States, payday loans are easy mode of availing a loan in time of need. However, given the high rate of interest which is calculated through APR (Annual Percentage Rate) in case of payday loans, settlement loans have definitely emerged as better choice. However, this lawsuit funding advance can only be availed if you are under the jurisdiction of the court and your case is progressing towards a final verdict. In other situations, you will either have to go for payday loans or bank loans.

However, like everything else, the settlement loan too has a darker side and comes bundled with several inbuilt risks. Some of them could be total loss of liens or real estate property, a house or an agricultural land.  Though every legal finance company is not the same and abides by their own set of rules which might be different right from legal funding firm’s working to individual case of plaintiff. Yet as a common thumb rule, the lawsuit settlement funding is offered to those respondents whose case has either reached a final verdict in lower court/ higher court or very close to verdict.

These lawsuit loans or broadly speaking, lawsuit settlement loans are given against a percentage share which has been decided upon by the common consensus between a plaintiff, a lawyer and the commercial litigation funding agency. Though most of the companies do not charge hefty interest charges but yes you never know what is being charged in the name of application processing? So, it’s always better to read the application form carefully and discuss with the funding agency’s officials prior to hiring them for your cash requirements.  This will save you from unpleasant surprises when you win the case and are entitled to repay your debt amount.

Check whether you are entitled for Legal Funding or not?

With plethora of legal funding companies operating online and ready to offer lawsuit loans under different categories, the people are now bombarded with many choices of legal finance options. This makes them highly confused on how to take a decision that which lawsuit funding firm would be better for them both in terms of interest rates and repayment options.

However, before you proceed further to check the attributes of lawsuit settlement loans’ company or firm, you as a plaintiff need to check your eligibility for the same.  Despite the fact that lawsuit settlement funding is offered for various types of commercial and accident cases, they have their own set of restrictions. There is long list of cases which are covered under these types of loans, yet we’ll just have a broad overview of them. While going through, you will get to know whether you are eligible for a pre-settlement loan or not.
List of few eligibility cases

  • Personal injury cases
  • Pharmaceutical cases
  • Breach of contract cases
  • Commercial litigation cases
  • Sexual harassment cases
  • Stock arbitration cases
  • Dog or cat bite cases
  • Construction accident cases
  • Funding of surgery cases
  • Structured settlements
  • Tractor or truck accidents
  • Civil Rights cases
  • Life Insurance cases
  • Police brutality cases
  • Wrongful imprisonment cases
  • Negligence cases of all sorts
  • Medical or doctor cases
  • Legal malpractices cases
  • Labor law cases

While this is only a broad list and includes maximum types of cases that make plaintiffs eligible for settlement loans, this is no way an exhaustive one. So, if you do not find your case listed here you need to check with your loan provider company. One last thing, don’t forget to discuss on interest rates and talk about any extra charges if there are any.