News and analysis dedicated to the consumer legal funding sector including mass torts, regulatory issues, case developments, funding activities, and more.

The American Legal Finance Association (ALFA) objects on behalf of its 30 members to the Case Management Order No. 61 issued by U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers on August 29, 2023 in the 3M Combat Arms Earplug Product Litigation. The Order prohibits claimants in the Litigation from obtaining consumer legal funding without court approval and does not cite any applicable factual basis or legal precedent for such an order. The Order was issued without providing any due process to ALFA members whose funding contracts are in demand by claimants.

A21-1338        Pamela Maslowski, Respondent, vs. Prospect Funding Partners LLC, et al., Appellants, vs. James Schwebel, Esq, et al., Respondents.

The Minnesota Supreme Court took a significant step to ensuring equal access to justice with their decision in Maslowski vs. Prospect Funding Partners LLC. yesterday, overturning the trial court and Court of Appeals holding and ruling unanimously that Consumer Litigation Funding is not subject to usury law as there is no absolute requirement to repay. In their decision, reversing the trial court and Court of Appeals, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the repurchase rate in Prospect’s agreement was not subject to Minnesota’s usury statute. The American Legal Finance Association (ALFA) filed the only amicus curiae brief in this case on behalf of the interest of their members.

Legal-Bay, The Pre Settlement Funding Company, announced today that Johnson & Johnson’s efforts to put a hold on the numerous lawsuits they are facing by filing bankruptcy have failed. Judge Kaplan ruled that the filing did not meet the requirements to qualify as a “good-faith” bankruptcy attempt, and was merely a way to seek protections against the billions of dollars the pharmaceutical giant will be expected to pay out in damages.

Legal-Bay, the Pre-Settlement Funding Company, announced an uptick in applications for settlement funding now that back-to-school season has begun. Now that summer is over and kids are heading back to school, many parents of college-aged children are faced with the added costs of tuition payments, textbooks, and travel expenses to-and-from campus, not to mention meals and housing once they get there.

Pegasus Legal Capital, LLC (“Pegasus”) (mylawfunds.com), one of the preeminent pre-settlement legal funding companies in the U.S., announced today that it has recently closed a senior debt transaction with East West Bank. This marks another significant capital market transaction for the company and proceeds from the transaction will enable Pegasus to continue its growth across the United States.

Legal-Bay, the Pre-Settlement Funding Company, reports that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse, New York has just announced a $100 million settlement for sexual abuse plaintiffs. With approximately 400 claimants, settlements average out to $250,000 per case, but some plaintiffs will receive more or less than that amount based on the severity of the abuse incurred.

Legal-Bay, The Pre Settlement Funding Company, announced today that they are now adding mesothelioma victims to their list of Johnson & Johnson talc plaintiffs. The pharmaceutical company just lost their most recent court case, resulting in a landmark $18 million verdict. Both J&J and plaintiffs/lawyers await the next steps in what has been a painfully slow process.

Missouri Governor Michael Parson signed an omnibus bill, SB 103, containing sweeping new regulations for the growing industry of consumer legal funding—bringing meaningful oversight of provider companies for the first time in the state’s history.

The following article was contributed by Julia DiCristofaro, program administrator at The Milestone Foundation.

“I have a good client who is in need of pre-settlement funding, which I almost always advise against. But she is desperate, and this case will settle soon. Do you think you can help?”

Golden Pear Funding (Golden Pear), a national leader in pre-settlement legal funding, announced the upsizing to $67.2 million of its existing corporate notes. The incremental capital raise was assigned a BBB rating by a nationally recognized statistical ratings organization (NRSRO) and follows the Company’s successful corporate note issuance announced in January 2022. Proceeds from the upsize will be used to repay subordinated debt and support additional growth of the business.

One of the more important issues today concerning litigation in America is funding. Whether it be high verdicts, claim value drivers, or fraudulent claims, we are all affected. Vince Gerbino founding partner of Bruno, Gerbino, Soriano and Aitken, will moderate the webinar’s distinguished panel that will provide insight into this important concern from a broad range of perspectives.

Executive Summary

• Consumer legal funding is a much more consistent and predictable asset class
• Headline risks, while real in the earlier days of the industry’s evolution, are now consistent with more mature consumer finance asset classes
• Consumer legal funding has a strong ESG component through the social benefits provided to the segment of society that relies on it the most

Executive Summary

• Consumer legal funding is a much more consistent and predictable asset class
• Headline risks, while real in the earlier days of the industry’s evolution, are now consistent with more mature consumer finance asset classes
• Consumer legal funding has a strong ESG component through the social benefits provided to the segment of society that relies on it the most

Legal-Bay, The Pre Settlement Funding Company, announced today that Los Angeles County is preparing to spend a sizable chunk of their proposed annual budget to resolve the thousands of sexual abuse claims that plaintiffs say they suffered within the walls of state-run institutions. The county’s juvenile halls have been the focus for many of the allegations, where a multitude of plaintiffs claim they were verbally, physically, and sexually abused while living within the facilities as minors.

KBRA assigns preliminary ratings to three classes of notes issued by US Claims LFS Securitization, Series 2023-A (LFS 2023A), a litigation finance ABS. LFS 2023A represents the ninth ABS collateralized by litigation finance receivables to be sponsored by US Claims Holdings, LLC (US Claims or the Company). US Claims, originally established in 1996 and acquired in 2014 by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities as a subsidiary of Majestic Financial Holdings, LLC, is a leading provider of non-recourse advances to plaintiffs and attorneys with pending legal settlements across a variety of case types. Through its strategy of keeping “Litigation Funding Simplified”, the Company has funded over $800 million of litigation finance since 2010. The Company has 100 full-time employees across its headquarters in Delray Beach, FL and support offices in Clearwater, FL and Moorestown, NJ.

Legal-Bay, The Pre Settlement Funding Company, announced today that they expect a global settlement to be reached in the landmark Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Talc cases. It will be one of the largest mass tort settlements in U.S. history, costing J&J over $10 billion to resolve over 100,000 claims. 

Gain, a comprehensive medical lien servicing and legal funding company with an artificial intelligence-powered platform, launched today. Previously, the company had been doing business as a variety of operating companies, including Cherokee Legal Holdings, Cherokee Funding and Gain Servicing. The rebrand is meant to streamline the companies and build efficiencies in order to serve as a centralized, AI-powered hub to those with medical lien servicing and legal funding needs.

Risk Settlements, which provides bespoke solutions for companies facing the uncertainty of litigation, has changed its name to Certum Group. Latin for “certainty,” Certum represents the core benefit the company delivers to its clients across its entire suite of solutions.

Katonah NY. Modeso LLC D/B/A Rapidfunds (“RF”), today announced that they have signed an agreement with Amicus Capital (“AC”), a prominent investment firm in the legal financing market, establishing a partnership to provide financing to law firms throughout the United States. Through this partnership, RF and AC will market each other’s services to existing and prospective law firms on a nationwide basis by leveraging their extensive databases of law firms.