Litigation funding is a concept that provides an infusion of cash to an attorney or plaintiff for a percentage of the money borrowed or a share in proceeds from a case. This form of
lawsuit funding is considered non recourse meaning, if you lose your case you don’t repay the lender. A funder can provide capital to a plaintiff or attorney however, they do not control the way in which the attorney litigates the case. Litigation funding is used by attorneys that don’t want the burden of using their own reserves to litigate a claim and for the plaintiff as a stop gap to early settlement.
LawLeaf is a leading provider of litigation funding services throughout the United States. Part of our offerings is financing large commercial litigation claims.
Please Note: The information below relates to cases with request amounts of over $500K. LawLeaf can provide commercial litigation financing with no minimums or maximums.
Qualification Process for Requests Amounts over $500K.
There are several items that are considered prior to releasing funds:
Ability for the defendant to pay the claimant: Does the defendant have the ability to satisfy the claim if the plaintiff is awarded a judgment? This is extremely important to the funding process. If the defendant has filed for bankruptcy or does not have the assets to satisfy a claim, it is highly unlikely you will be approved for financing. An experienced litigator will make sure during the process that the defendant does not file for bankruptcy. Oftentimes, bankruptcy attorneys are hired by the plaintiff’s team to freeze all assets until the closure of the lawsuit.
Strength of the case: What is the strength of the claim? In order to qualify for litigation funding a funder will be interested in the strength of the case. This means there must be clear liability or negligence on the part of the defense.
Estimated Costs & Timeframe: How much will the claim cost and what is the estimated timeframe for closure. If you have hired your attorney on a non contingency fee basis we will need to know the exact costs of hiring expert witnesses, trial and hearing costs etc. This also applies for attorney funding. We will also consider those costs associated with an appeals process, as many times judgments and verdicts are appealed. We do prefer to work with plaintiffs that have hired representation on a contingency fee basis because we believe it’s more likely to be a stronger case. While we can provide assistance to those individuals who have obtained legal representation on an hourly basis etc., they are sometimes very hard to approve.
The timeframe is also very important during the evaluation of the claim. While we can work with clients that have recently filed a lawsuit we prefer to work with clients that are close to a settlement, trial or during the appeals process. We also provide post settlement funding for clients that are awaiting compensation from a recently settled claim or judgment. While we look at every lawsuit we prefer the case to be within 2 years of closure.
Experienced Legal Representation: How experienced is the attorney(s)? Part of the evaluation process is finding out whether the attorney(s) have been successful in the past with the specific lawsuit. The more experience an attorney(s) the more likely you will be approved for an advance. LawLeaf will work on preparing bios of each attorney involved in the process. We will request information on past successes of similar cases.
Due Diligence:
Prior to securing litigation funding for any case, there is a review process which will decide whether a case justifies funding. At LawLeaf, we are experienced in streamlining this process and more importantly presenting the package in the correct format. We put great emphasis in presenting packages in a timely and professional manner. While additional due diligence may require additional information during the funding process, the likelihood of consideration through our process increases your chances of funding.
If you decide to work with a company like LawLeaf, be sure they have experience in securing financing for multi-million dollar requests. LawLeaf works very closely with our institutional funds and in partnership we have tested processes. Our institutional funds only work with a select few companies and because LawLeaf has tested these processes with our funds, there is a higher percentage a case will be considered through our company.
Phase 1:
LawLeaf gathers the necessary information required to begin the process. Without going into detail we are interested in 3 main areas of the case. We gather information on case detail, economics and principle contacts. LawLeaf will gather this information and create an executive brief outlining the case. Once the executive brief is complete we will share it with the plaintiff and/or attorney for final review.
Phase 2:
The executive brief comprising of these 3 main areas of the case is provided by LawLeaf to the interested institutional funds. Our partners will review the executive brief and request additional information if the case justifies further consideration. If the package is well prepared and the case justifies further review, the request will proceed to the next phase. This process typically takes less than a day to complete.
Phase 3:
If the case merits further review we will begin gathering the necessary documentation for underwriting. During this process we will gather case documents and provide them to the underwriter; this process can take a few days as we may need additional information over and beyond the requested documents. During this phase we may need to arrange a meeting or conference call with attorney(s). LawLeaf requires direct access to your attorney. The underwriting process for larger cases typically takes several days.
Phase 4:
If the case merits funding the underwriter will generally begin a background check. If the case remains of interest after the background check, the case will be submitted for a formal approval.
Phase 5:
LawLeaf will present the offer to the plaintiff and/or attorney for final approval and signatures. Once the contract is sent back to the funder money will be released as specified in the contract.
Questions & Answers:
What are the minimums and maximums?
There are no minimums or maximums. There are no limits on the amounts you can secure.
How long does the whole process take from start to finish?
The process for each applicant is different. It typically depends upon how quickly we can get the information needed to process the application. Once all the information is provided to the underwriter it will typically take a few days from start to finish. The process tends to go quicker if we have direct access to the attorney and they are willing to speak with the underwriter during the process.
Does LawLeaf prepare the plaintiff and/or attorney prior to a conversation with the underwriter?
Yes, we will go over the important factors in obtaining a favorable result prior to your conversation(s). There are certain items which will be discussed with the underwriter and you should always be prepared to sell your case to the funding source. The more prepared you are the better chance for funding.
What types of funding options can you provide?
We can help secure lump sum advances, credit lines and funding for costs related to your case. The most important factor is we can set up an option that best meets your financial needs.
If you are considering litigation financing, LawLeaf can help. LawLeaf provides litigation funding throughout the United States and abroad. The following is a list of states in the U.S. we can provide attorney and plaintiff funding: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming and the District of Columbia D.C.
