Saturday, October 17, 2009

Lawsuit Loans: Do You Have a Case That Will Qualify? Part I

By Dr. Tom Rhudy

Why do we even refer to it as a lawsuit loan? It is clearly not a loan in any sense of the word! To be precise, we should refer to it as settlement funding, a form of funding provided in advance of your settling your claim. One may even go so far as to refer to it as venture-capital.

An important aspect of this form of funding is the fact that the applicant bears no risk in this transaction, a benefit of having a non-recourse loan.

To commence this process, the lender and applicant enter into an agreement. You are not required to repay any of the lawsuit-loan, as identified in the agreement, if you lose your case. Thus, during pendency of a lawsuit, settlement funding is often viewed, and rightly so, as a no-risk source of financial assistance.

There are many of types of cases for which lawsuits may be provided. You may find it beneficial to understand not only the types of cases for which such funding may be provided, but some of the nuances as well.


Lawsuits involving motor vehicle collisions: Personal injury suits frequently arise from these incidents. In addition to property damage to your vehicle, there are often hospital and other medical bills to pay. These cases are often protracted, running on for several years.

Injuries to children: These can be difficult cases for which to obtain a pre-settlement loan. Due to the risk of guardians pursuing a claim to solely benefit them and not an injured child, the Court will often appoint an attorney ad litem. The attorney ad litem represents only the child's interests, interests that may be antithetical to that of the guardian's.

Slip-and-Fall: This mechanism of injury is the most common type of personal injury. Due to their prevalence, many retailers are extremely aggressive, frequently unreasonably so, in fighting such claims. In many instances, it will be found that video-surveillance of the incident is available, and must be procured. Furthermore, it is very important clearly describe the surface on which the slip occurred, items that created obstacles in your path that produced your fall, etc. If witnesses observed the incident, elicit testimony from them if necessary to support the claim made. Details regarding the mechanism of injury should never be left to chance! - 29904

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment