In connection with April being Financial Literacy month here in Pennsylvania, we wanted to provide you and your clients with the following:
THINKING ABOUT “BORROWING” AGAINST YOUR LAWSUIT? KNOW THE DEAL!
- Don’t do it until you’ve explored all of your other financial options, including borrowing from family and friends.
- Don’t be surprised if your lawyer tries to talk you out of it. “Borrowing” against your case can be very expensive and therefore a potentially bad financial decision. Make sure you really need the money before you “borrow” it.
- Think long term. If you “borrow” money today, will it actually solve a problem or merely delay it? You can only “borrow” so much against your case so come up with a game plan for the future.
- Recognize that the longer it takes for your case to conclude, the more money you will ultimately be required to repay the funding company. In other words, try to avoid “borrowing” too early in your case.
- If you do “borrow” against your case, know that your attorney has an ethical obligation to honor your agreement with the funding company. That means you cannot later ask your attorney to ignore the funding company’s lien.
- You should know that the funding company determines how much money, if any, it will advance to you. This decision is not up to your attorney.
Please consider using this list as a resource and sharing it with your clients who are considering “borrowing” money against their potential settlement. We hope it helps!
Below is a link to another resource, our short eBook, 8 Things You Should Know Before Signing The Next Funding Agreement that includes a few important things we think law firms should know about the plaintiff funding industry.