
If your lawsuit is taking too long to resolve and your bills are piling up, pre-settlement funding can help you meet your needs. Also called legal funding or litigation financing, pre-settlement funding gives you instant access to the future proceeds of your lawsuit. Use the money on any expenses, however you see fit.
Insurance companies and opposing attorneys understand your financial predicament and often try to use it against you to force you into settling for a lowball offer. However, you can ease your financial burden and hold out for what you deserve by applying for legal funding.
- What Is Pre-Settlement Legal Funding?
- Is Lawsuit Financing Legal Where You Live?
- Legal Funding Is Not a Loan
- How Does Pre-Settlement Funding Work?
- How We Determine Your Funding Amount
- Legal Funding Interest Rates
- Pre-Settlement Funding Eligibility
- Your Lawyer Will Handle the Legal Funding Repayment
- Can a Surviving Spouse or Children Apply for Pre-Settlement Legal Funding?
- Why You May Need Pre-Settlement Legal Funding
- Pre-Settlement Legal Funding Is a Low-Risk Alternative
- Is Interest Charged On Pre-Settlement Legal Funding?
- You Can Apply for Pre-Settlement Legal Funding More Than Once
- Paying Back Your Pre-Settlement Funding
- Get Pre-Settlement Funding With High Rise Financial
What Is Pre-Settlement Legal Funding?
We offer a type of litigation financing. However, pre-settlement legal funding offers one significant feature that makes it different from your typical loan: it’s risk-free.
With a traditional loan, you still have to repay the debt even if your case loses. That means you can get stuck in a worse position simply for trying to pursue justice.
When you work with pre-settlement funding companies, you won’t have to worry about being stuck with the bill if your personal injury lawsuit is unsuccessful. If you win your case, we receive our repayment from your compensation package. If you lose, you don’t have to pay us back at all.
Is Lawsuit Financing Legal Where You Live?
In the U.S., there are no federal legal funding laws applied nationwide. Instead, the legislators and courts in each state are free to create their own rules and guidelines. This means there is significant variation in the laws across the country, with pre-settlement loans in San Francisco facing a different set of regulations than those in a less accommodating state. Your state may:
- Explicitly prohibit lawsuit funding or refuse to enforce these contracts in court
- Lack the legislation or legal precedence necessary to determine its legality
- Allow legal funding with strict regulations and restrictions
- Allow legal funding openly and without regulation
In those states that regulate lawsuit funding, there are often laws to protect you as the consumer. For example, your state may have rules regarding:
- How much you can be charged per year in interest
- The amount of money you can receive
- Your right to rescind the agreement
- Fee transparency in your contract
- How a legal funding company can advertise for your business
- A legal funding company’s ability to impact the lawsuit
- How you can use the funds – for example, whether or not you can apply them to your legal expenses
- An attorney’s ability to extend legal funding to their clients
- Whether legal financing companies need to be licensed in their state
Legal Funding Is Not a Loan
Lawsuit loans can have a bad reputation due to the actions of a few predatory lenders. Pre-settlement funding from High Rise Financial is a different form of financial assistance. Here are some key aspects that make our legal funding different from a bank loan:
- No long-term monthly payment contracts to worry about
- No repayment if you lose your case
- No credit check required
- No need to investigate your personal finances
Legal funding is non-recourse, which means you aren’t personally liable for the debt. At most, you’ll pay the agreed-upon portion of your compensation package as repayment. We are not legally able to pursue payment from your bank account, garnish your wages, or seize other assets.
Legal Funding Comes From You
When you get our pre-settlement legal funding, we provide you with the cash you need to stay afloat while your case settles. The money comes directly from your eventual settlement package. It’s like borrowing from yourself.
On the other hand, a loan is money borrowed from someone else. You will have to sign a contract to pay the lender back the total amount of the loan, plus any additional fees. Usually, that means you agree to make monthly payments even if you lose your case and do not receive compensation.
How Does Pre-Settlement Funding Work?
When you contact us about pre-settlement funding, we will get in touch with your personal injury attorney to discuss the specifics of your case. Before we agree to provide financing to a plaintiff, we must conduct a thorough review of the claim to determine whether or not it’s likely to settle.
Once we’ve approved you for lawsuit financing, you can have the money in your bank account in as little as 24 hours. Then, once you conclude your lawsuit and get compensation, we will receive the agreed-upon repayment.
How We Determine Your Funding Amount
The amount of your pre-settlement funding will depend on a variety of factors. Our underwriters will go over the evidence associated with your lawsuit, investigate your total damages, and calculate your expected compensation amount.
Typically, the law prohibits us from providing more than 20% of the total estimated value of your lawsuit. So, for example, if you are likely to receive $1,000,000 in damages, most reputable companies will be able to advance you up to $200,000.
Legal Funding Interest Rates
As the overwhelming number of five-star reviews from our clients can attest, we are always completely transparent about the interest rates on our pre-settlement funding. So, before you receive a dollar, you’ll know precisely how much this early access to your money will cost you.
We can’t provide an exact rate until we review the specifics of your case. That’s because lower-risk lawsuits may warrant lower interest charges, while those with a questionable outcome may have a somewhat higher cost.
Pre-Settlement Funding Eligibility
Applying for pre-settlement funding is free, so there is no risk in applying if you think you might qualify. Our underwriters will consider the following factors and determine your eligibility in as little as 24 hours.
You Must Have a Valid Lawsuit
To be eligible for legal funding, the first requirement you have to meet is having a valid lawsuit. You do not have to be in court, and in fact, most plaintiffs settle with the opposing party before ever reaching a courtroom. Nevertheless, you can only get pre-settlement legal funding if you pursue compensation through a lawsuit.
You Must Have a Certain Case Type
We provide pre-settlement funding to people hurt according to personal injury statutes. Personal injury cases usually involve mental effects, bodily harm, or property damage. Some cases we’ve helped clients with litigation funding include:
- Auto accidents
- Slip and fall
- Medical malpractice
- Defective medical devices
- Wrongful death
- Construction accidents
- Nursing home negligence
- Dog bites
- Jones Act maritime accidents
You Must Have a Reputable Attorney
We work directly with lawyers when supplying pre-settlement legal funding. Therefore, if you do not have an attorney representing your case, you will not be found eligible for funding by our underwriters.
Your Lawyer Will Handle the Legal Funding Repayment
To be eligible for our pre-settlement legal funding, you must have an attorney working on your personal injury case. There are several reasons for this requirement, but among them is that your lawyer will handle the repayment process for you.
When your case resolves, the at-fault party will send your attorney’s office a check for the amount they owe. Then, your attorney will pay us back for your pre-settlement funding, take out their fees, and send the rest to you.
While attorneys don’t typically handle the funding itself, they do oversee the repayment process. This allows you and your family to focus on recovering from the harm you have suffered.
Can a Surviving Spouse or Children Apply for Pre-Settlement Legal Funding?
While a wrongful death lawsuit is being processed, the surviving spouse or children may struggle with expenses like:
- Funeral costs
- Medical bills incurred before the passing of their loved one
- Their loved one’s lost income
In these cases, we can provide relief through pre-settlement legal funding that does not lock the family members into monthly payments that may become difficult down the road. In addition, as with other personal injury claims, they will not have to pay back the funding if they lose the wrongful death lawsuit.
Why You May Need Pre-Settlement Legal Funding
Only you and your attorney can decide whether you need pre-settlement legal financing. Every case is different, and every person’s financial status is unique, so a blanket answer is impossible. However, you might need legal funding for the following reasons.
Combat the Opposing Side’s Stalling
In many cases, the at-fault party in a personal injury claim will try to stall for time. Their goal is to make you feel the financial pressure so that you cave in and accept a settlement that is worth much less than you deserve. By getting pre-settlement legal funding, you can neutralize this tactic.
Pay for Living Expenses
It can be hard to keep your bills paid after an accident, especially if you are temporarily or permanently unable to work because of your injuries. However, unlike other forms of monetary relief, such as medical funding, pre-settlement funding typically has no restrictions on the way you can use it.
Applying for our legal financing will allow you to pay for ordinary expenses, like:
- Rent and mortgage payments
- Medical bills
- The cost of rehabilitation or therapy
- Day-to-day needs, such as food
- Utility bills
- Legal fees, if allowed in your state
Pre-Settlement Legal Funding Is a Low-Risk Alternative
Some forms of lawsuit funding come with significant risks, especially those structured as traditional recourse loans. However, you are taking on little to no risk when you seek pre-settlement legal financing from us.
Where Your Fund Repayment Comes From
Pre-settlement funding is non-recourse, so you don’t have to repay it out of your personal finances. On the other hand, other loan types can lock you into long-term monthly payment plans and leave you worse than when you started.
If You Lose Your Case
This arrangement is also safe for you because you do not have to pay us back if you lose your lawsuit. So, you keep the money and are not saddled with debt because you didn’t get the compensation you expected.
Is Interest Charged On Pre-Settlement Legal Funding?
We offer funds for a flat fee rather than charging compounding interest – a much safer option for you and your family.
Our fee plus the amount you borrowed is the total sum you will repay out of your eventual compensation package. So, you’ll know exactly how much will be taken out of your settlement without having to do tricky math or worrying about hidden fees.
You Can Apply for Pre-Settlement Legal Funding More Than Once
Though we try to take the total financial need and outlook of your case into account when providing initial funding, you can apply for pre-settlement funding more than once if you need it. Applying, as always, is free.
Plaintiffs can typically access up to 20% of their prospective compensation as a lawsuit cash advance. So, if your initial funding is below that mark, it may be possible to get more pre-settlement financing while you wait.
Every Claim Is Unique
There is no cookie-cutter solution to your situation. Finding the right option and amount of funding to suit your needs should be a matter of evaluating your specific case and new developments.
Our staff keeps in touch with your attorney to assess new twists and turns in your claim that may necessitate additional funding.
Paying Back Your Pre-Settlement Funding
Pre-settlement legal funding is not the same as a cash advance or a lawsuit loan. You don’t sign up for a specific repayment timeline. Instead, the money is paid back directly out of the settlement or jury award you end up with. It’s repaid all at once, so you don’t have to worry about remembering monthly payments.
In short, your pre-settlement funding is repaid immediately after your attorney gets the compensation check from the at-fault party.
Get Pre-Settlement Funding With High Rise Financial
Get the tools to maximize your lawsuit from High Rise Financial. Apply online for free and start the journey toward financial relief with pre-settlement funding.
The application has no obligation, no hidden fees, and no confusing jargon. So, get started today and see how simple, straightforward, and transparent legal funding can be.