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Commercial

Kansas Enacts Transparency in Consumer Legal Funding Act

By John Freund |
April 10, 2026

Kansas Enacts Transparency in Consumer Legal Funding Act

Kansas has become the latest state to adopt a regulatory framework for consumer legal funding, with Governor Laura Kelly signing the Transparency in Consumer Legal Funding Act into law. The measure passed with unanimous bipartisan support in both chambers of the Kansas legislature and establishes baseline standards for how consumer legal funding companies operate in the state.

According to EIN Presswire, the new law affirms that consumer legal funding is not a loan and codifies several consumer protections. Those include a 10-day cancellation window allowing consumers to rescind agreements without penalty, a non-recourse structure ensuring consumers owe nothing if their case is unsuccessful, and a requirement that contracts be written in plain language. Funding companies must also provide full financial disclosure of funded amounts, fees, and maximum repayment schedules.

The statute additionally prohibits funders from influencing settlement decisions or the direction of litigation, preserving attorney independence and client control over case strategy. A referral fee ban eliminates kickbacks to attorneys or medical providers, addressing a long-standing concern among industry critics.

Eric Schuller, President of the Alliance for Responsible Consumer Legal Funding, called the legislation “a thoughtful, balanced framework that ensures consumers fully understand their agreements while preserving access to critical financial support during litigation.” The Kansas law adds to a growing patchwork of state-level consumer legal funding regulations and reflects continued momentum toward standardized disclosure requirements across the industry.

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John Freund

John Freund

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Commercial Special Features

Legal Finance ABS for Institutional Investors: Market Securities Expands Offering

By Celso Filho |

The following article was contributed by Celso Filho, Global Head of Special Projects at Market Securities, and co-founder and CEO of Rachel AI.

Life insurers and other institutional investors face a structural allocation challenge: securing sufficient volumes of rated, long-duration, yield-bearing assets to match long-tail liabilities. Public investment-grade bond markets remain large, but they do not consistently provide the spread, structure, or customization required. As a result, insurers have steadily increased allocations to private placements, asset-backed securities, and other forms of private credit.

According to Milliman's 2026 analysis of NAIC statutory filings, private bonds now account for approximately 46% of U.S. life insurers' bond portfolios — up from 29% a decade ago — reflecting a sustained and accelerating shift toward alternative sources of yield and duration. The trend is sharpest among PE-owned life insurers, where structured securities account for approximately 49% of total bonds — underscoring how deeply the search for rated, yield-bearing paper has become embedded in the asset allocation strategies of the most capital-active players in the sector.

Market Securities is addressing that demand by bringing to market asset-backed securities backed by legal finance receivables, including pre-settlement plaintiff advances and receivables linked to contingent fee arrangements with law firms. These assets introduce a distinct return profile driven by legal case cash flows rather than traditional corporate credit cycles, and they can be structured into rated securitizations suitable for institutional portfolios.

The opportunity is crystallizing across three investor tiers — each approaching the asset class from a different angle, but converging on the same structure and, together, driving the institutionalization of legal finance.

  1. Insurers and other rated-mandate investors represent the largest pool of demand. Operating within strict capital and rating constraints, they allocate to investment-grade instruments at 125 to 200 basis points over Treasuries and can deploy hundreds of millions per transaction. Their participation defines the scale of the opportunity — and creates the demand for rated, structured exposure that legal finance ABS is uniquely positioned to meet.
  2. Private credit managers, sovereign wealth funds, and large family offices occupy the senior and mezzanine tranches, targeting enhanced yield with structural protections. Unlike insurers, these investors are not dependent on ratings and underwrite assets directly, focusing on risk-adjusted returns, structure, and downside protection. They provide the capital depth required to scale transactions and anchor issuance.
  3. Specialist legal finance investors sit in the junior and equity tranches, underwriting legal risk directly and targeting returns in excess of 25%. These investors take first-loss positions, pricing legal risk at the asset level — and for them, securitization offers a compelling strategic advantage: lower cost of capital and greater leverage availability than traditional fund formation, particularly relevant in today's challenging fundraising environment.

These tiers are complementary rather than competitive. Rated investors bring scale and duration demand; private credit and sovereign capital provide flexible, non-rating-constrained liquidity; and specialist managers contribute underwriting expertise and first-loss alignment. Securitization is the architecture that aligns them — converting legal finance receivables into a format that institutional capital can size, rate, and deploy against.

Market Securities sees this convergence as structural rather than cyclical, and legal finance ABS as the mechanism through which it becomes permanent.

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Celso Filho, CFA, CAIA is Global Head of Special Projects at Market Securities, based in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). He is also co-founder and CEO of Rachel AI, a London-incorporated litigation finance technology and analytics platform. Celso began his career as a lawyer, practising for seven years before transitioning into investment banking and specialty finance, with prior roles at Citigroup and Credit Suisse. He holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Commercial

LITFINCON Announces European Debut With Amsterdam Summit

By John Freund |

The global litigation finance conference series LITFINCON is expanding to Europe, with organizer Siltstone Capital announcing a two-day summit at the Rosewood Amsterdam on October 7–8, 2026.

As reported by PR Newswire, LITFINCON Europe will bring together litigation funders, law firms, institutional investors, and general counsels for eleven panels covering topics ranging from regulatory divergence across the UK, EU, and U.S. to deal mechanics, AI adoption, and developments at the Unified Patent Court. The conference will close with a 75-minute unscripted "Candid Conversations" session.

"Capital is flowing into the space at an unprecedented rate, and the demand for high-quality, senior dialogue has never been higher," said Robert Le, co-founder of Siltstone Capital. Jim Batson, the firm's CIO for legal finance, added that "LITFINCON has built its reputation on bringing the right people into the right room."

The Amsterdam venue — a set of five interconnected 19th-century palace buildings along the Herengracht canal that once served as the city's main courthouse — marks a fitting location for the conference's European launch. The Rosewood Amsterdam's historic connection to the Dutch judicial system underscores the growing intersection of legal proceedings and institutional capital on the continent.

LITFINCON originated in Houston and has rapidly scaled into a multi-city global series. The European debut follows LITFINCON Asia, scheduled for June 4, 2026, at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. Sponsorship, speaking opportunities, and registration are now available at litfinconeurope.com.

Commercial

Fintechs Target Estate Disputes as Baby Boomer Wealth Transfer Fuels Litigation Funding Demand

By John Freund |

A wave of fintech startups is moving into the estate and probate space, offering litigation funding and technology solutions for executors navigating the spiralling costs of administering deceased estates.

As reported by the Australian Financial Review, with a $5.4 trillion Baby Boomer wealth transfer now underway, legal sector disruptors are positioning themselves to capitalize on the growing complexity and expense of settling estates. The report highlights how litigation funding is extending into probate and succession disputes, a segment that has historically been underserved by traditional funders.

The trend reflects a broader expansion of the litigation finance market beyond its traditional strongholds in commercial disputes and class actions. Estate litigation is expected to surge as record intergenerational wealth transfers generate contested wills, disputed charitable bequests, and family succession battles. In Australia alone, the over-60 population is projected to pass on $3.5 trillion to younger generations over the next two decades.

For litigation funders, estate disputes present an attractive proposition: cases with quantifiable asset pools, clear legal frameworks, and relatively predictable timelines compared to large-scale commercial litigation. The entry of technology-driven players into this space signals a new frontier for the industry as it continues to diversify its portfolio of funded case types.