Lawsuit loans are financial deals in which a plaintiff in a lawsuit (usually a personal injury lawsuit) is advanced money prior to settlement. How long does it take to get a lawsuit loan? The answer depends on a variety of factors.
The two parties to a lawsuit loan transaction are a plaintiff and a lawsuit funding company. The plaintiff must have a legitimate claim and be represented by counsel, often on a contingency fee retainer arrangement. On the other side of the transaction is a lawsuit “lender”. This is a financial enterprise whose expertise is evaluating pending claims/lawsuits with enough skill as to deploy capital and turn a profit. The funding company purchases a portion of the future proceeds of the case. When plaintiff gets an award/recovery, the advance is repaid with additional charges. If the lawsuit/claim is not successful, there is no repayment required.
What Factors Determine How Long it Takes to Get a Lawsuit Loan?
The lawsuit funding process is fairly straightforward. Assuming the application is pre-qualified – meets the basic requirements of a civil case, with an attorney retained on a contingency fee arrangement – the process is as follows:
- The applicant’s data is entered into the system
- A request for documents is sent to the applicant’s attorney
- The documents are received and reviewed
- A short conference call is made with counsel to discuss the merits of the case
- If approved, a contract is drafted and sent to the applicant
- Once signed and returned by the client and attorney, the case is funded via overnight mail or electronic transfer
Any delay in the process is normally due to the availability of the applicant’s attorney. Lawsuit funding companies have funding underwriters working all day. Their job is to evaluate cases for investment purposes. Plaintiff attorneys on the other hand, are busy practicing law. Often, they are not available the first time an attempt is made to compile paperwork or conduct a telephone conference.
Certain Types of Cases Do Not Qualify
What types of cases are available for funding? Most lawsuit loan companies do not advance money on landlord tenant actions, wage disputes, social security disability claims, or collections cases. If you have one of these types of lawsuits, the answer to the question: “how long does it take to get a lawsuit loan?” is obvious.
The good news is that most lawsuit funding companies do fund:
- Product liability cases for defective products.
- Personal injury cases, such as car accident lawsuit loans, slip and fall lawsuit funding, and premises liability settlement funding.
- Medical device cases involving devices that caused an accident or illness such as hip lawsuit funding.
- Medical or legal malpractice actions where professional negligence caused damages.
- Employment law cases, which may involve discrimination or wrongful termination.
- Large commercial litigation cases.
- And others. . .
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Other Considerations Affecting How Long It Takes to Get a Lawsuit Loan
Other factors such as the availability of certain documentation can have an impact on the overall time it takes to get a lawsuit loan. Documents such as a police reports, insurance information or relevant medical records can delay the process when a plaintiff in a car accident case is considered. Other types of cases require different documentation.
Lawsuit loan companies strive to make the process as streamlined as possible. Efficiency is a main goal of these “lawsuit lenders”. Lawsuit loan applications which take longer than expected usually involve a delay in obtaining documentation or scheduling a conversation with the attorney. In other instances, executing the funding documents (contract) can also take time.
So, How Long Does it Take?
Typically, a lawsuit loan takes anywhere from 1 to 5 days from the time of application. We routinely fund clients the same day. However, most cases take longer than a day. Once the documents are reviewed and attorney conference occurs, clients should expect an answer the same day or the next morning.
In summary
Although possible, delays in how long it takes to get a lawsuit loan are usually not within the control of the lawsuit funding company.
Most delays occur at the point of document compilation. “Paper chasing” and phone conferencing are major components of the lawsuit loan process and require the cooperation of the attorney’s office. Their availability is outside of the lawsuit lender’s control.
Lawsuit funding companies are more and more efficient because time is money. Nevertheless, how long it takes to obtain lawsuit loans depend on more than just their efficiency.
Thank you for your interest in lawsuit funding.
