Settlement
Funding
Settlement funding can help plaintiffs
avoid settling cases early. With settlement funding personal injury
victims can get help paying their regular living expenses while
involved at trial.
Many settlement funding firms provide "non-recourse
interim funding" that is not a loan and does not have to
be paid back if there is no recovery at trial. What settlement
funding is, is a way that the plaintiff can stay the course of
a trial and benefit from the full amount of the claim.
Many defendant companies will try to extend court proceedings
in order to drain the financial resources of the plaintiff, forcing
them to settle for far less than what is being asked for in the
claim. This financial drain is the number one reason that people
settle for far less than what is owed them. Many plaintiffs are
out of work for a time after a personal injury accident and have
very little financial cushion to fall back on.
Attorneys are often asked for a cash advance by clients who wish
to stay the course of their trials. This request puts the attorney
in an ethical dilemma. In giving a client a cash advance the attorney
could be disciplined or disbarred. When a client receives an advance
from a third-party settlement funding firm instead of the attorney,
the pressure to settle quickly and cheaply is removed and the
ethical dilemma resolved.
Personal injury lawyers take on a big
risk when they take an injury case. Hours of time, money and resources
are poured into the case in hopes of a payoff at the end. When
a client receives a settlement funding cash advance (also known
as pre-settlement funding), then this takes a huge burden off
both the client and the attorney. The attorney is secure in knowing
that the client has the financial means to go the distance in
the trial.
Sometimes, attorneys who are overly-cautious and unsure about
the implications of settlement funding will not point their clients
to this type of resource. Because of this, many clients are not
aware of the availability of this resource and may just happen
to stumble upon this information on their own by mistake. The
reality is, though, that this is just the type of resource that
many clients need to be pointed to in order to secure a fully-litigated
trial. With settlement funding in the client's pocket, there is
no need to settle for less at trial.
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