The following is a contributed piece from Rory Donadio, CEO of www.tribecalawsuitloans.com
There are many ways to look at what those of us in litigation funding do. Is it a pre-settlement cash advance or a non-recourse loan? Is it truly lending, or is it an investment? But far more important than what we call our work, is what we actually do. According to a September 2021 Bloomberg Law Litigation Finance Survey, 88% of the responding attorneys believe that litigation finance enables better access to justice.
Without justice for all, democracy fails. So, I submit that litigation financing is an investment in democracy.
Since the inception of this industry, back when it was ripe for opportunity and unregulated like the wild west, I have been excited and driven to help real people in their search for justice. We help level the playing field between large, powerful companies and financially damaged individuals who have been harmed. A pre-settlement loan robs the insurance company of the plaintiff’s economic desperation they are so eager to weaponize as they strive to protect their clients from accountability.
With the litigation funding we provide, ordinary Americans can do the extraordinary — hold the most powerful entities in our society accountable for their actions. What could be more fundamental to democracy than this?
We are investing in democracy. Believe it, and never let it go.
Advice to Others in Litigation Financing
When Tribeca advises newcomers to the industry, I tell them to diversify their portfolios to invest in a wide range of cases. I encourage them to prioritize relationships with everyone — with clients, lawyers, the mailman, the person checking your groceries at your local store, that stranger who looks like they need a friend, and of course, other funders and brokers. Most importantly, I advise them never to lose sight of the genuine good you can do with litigation funding. Never forget that we are helping real people in need — that we are investing in democracy.
Let me share a story of one of our clients, who I am now proud to call my friend. Derrick Hamilton’s case is one — of many — that clarified how litigation financing is indeed investing in democracy.
When Democracy Falters
In 2011, Derrick Hamilton was released from prison after serving 21 years for a murder he did not commit. He was fully exonerated in 2015. In this country, we say it is better to let ten guilty men go free rather than convict a single innocent man. Yet our judicial system snatched more than two decades of this man’s life. Our legal system failed him.
As bad as his wrongful imprisonment was, the way he was treated after his release was almost worse. He was released from prison into poverty with no support structure. And when he sued the state for compensation for the wrongful imprisonment — you know what happened next — the state’s attorneys stalled. Despite knowing the state wrongfully locked this man away from his family, his friends, and his life, knowing the state owed him compensation for this vast injustice, the attorneys representing New York and Connecticut still dragged out his compensation negotiations for six years.
Think about that for a moment. There were no complex issues to analyze or painstaking research required. Nevertheless, more than two decades of this man’s life were stolen — a fact recognized by all sides. They delayed his compensation — for six entire years — because they could. They hoped that his financial straits would force him to accept far less money than he was owed, just to make the pain stop. It nearly worked.
Fortunately, we were able to help fund his wrongful incarceration lawsuit. I gained so much more than a business deal from the experience.
All Money is Alike
If you are desperate and cannot scrape the funds together to keep a roof over your family’s heads, or provide necessary medical care, then every dollar is precious. But when you have enough money to cover all your needs and wants, then every dollar is just like any other.
Forever chasing money simply adds up to bigger stacks of paper. But when we invest in people, we create opportunities to flourish. Unfortunately, sometimes these opportunities are squandered. But through passion, hard work, and faith in God, some people turn their chance to thrive into a way to lift up those around them. When this happens, you know your investment has paid rich dividends.
Investing in People Reaps Enormous Dividends
Supporting cases like Derrick’s crystallized my sense of the work we do. I recognized that, in a small way, I was investing in him and our democracy by helping him continue his fight for justice. I initially helped one man. Then, with the pre-settlement funding we provided, Derrick opened a business of his own, and invested in someone else’s restaurant. He netted the money he needed to hire other exonorees to work with him, pursuing justice for others still behind bars. He did this all while continuing to fight for the compensation he deserved.
When I look at all Derrick accomplished with the lawsuit loan I provided — just a cash advance on the money he was owed — I am both humbled and in awe. I helped Derrick Hamilton, but he, in turn, helped his family start a business and another company grow. He has employed other men in his very same circumstance, others unjustly imprisoned, and together, they help even more people.
Every dollar is a duplicate of another, but a single life that is improved reaches far and wide, bettering the lives of others. Whether someone we help plants a garden, raises a child, or creates opportunities for others our society has left behind, it is a beautiful thing. And each of these lives is singular, unrepeatable, and utterly unique.
Calculating the way one life can enhance so many others, strengthening our society and making our democracy work just a little bit better is much messier than standard accounting, and more challenging. The math is harder, but it’s so much more rewarding!
Building a Team and Moving Forward
More advice for others starting out in litigation financing — surround yourself with quality people who share your vision. After 28 years in the industry, I now have an incredible staff that does just that. They are open-minded, caring, and hardworking. They dig into the ways legal funding invests in people and strengthens our democracy. They never shy away from the messy accounting involved.
What’s different for me today, is that I am not afraid of admitting that I have made a mistake, I can own it, and I can learn from it. When I was one of the litigation financing industry’s pioneers back in the 90s, there were no guardrails or guidelines. In many ways, we were inventing the industry as we worked. Together we helped a lot of people, but I also made plenty of mistakes. I lost deals and made loans I should have walked away from, but these mistakes helped to form the man and the investor I have become today. My faith has allowed me the comfort of knowing there is enough for my storehouse. I don’t have to have every deal.
I credit self-reflection, passion, work ethic, and my relationship with God as the secrets to my success.
In addition, the willingness to make mistakes and to learn from them — to grow — is as essential to success in this field as in any other. Each case is so different from the next; there’s plenty of trial and error involved. So when mistakes happen, the truth is better revealed because you see the problem more clearly. The goal should not be to avoid failure but to learn from it and move on.
My mantra has become, “Yesterday’s denials are today’s approvals.”
I find my passion for litigation financing redoubled. I feel honored to be in a position to invest in our democracy’s justice system.
Where is the Litigation Financing Industry Headed?
As long as we have positive regulation in the market, the litigation financing industry will continue to grow. We must be proactive with legislation to keep companies honest and keep the industry available to those who need it.
I see legal funding as a genuinely noble business, where we use our money to help vulnerable people in distress meet their needs and secure the compensation they deserve. Sadly, some see nothing but an opportunity to victimize these people further and take quick profits with no regard to the damage they inflict.
Our industry needs sensible regulations that do the following:
- Rein in predatory lending practices
- Allow consumers to get the help they need
- Protect the litigation funder’s investment in the case
Currently, there are bills in Kentucky, North Carolina, New Jersey, Colorado, and New York that we are watching closely. At this time, most appear to be positive legislation that can benefit our industry and our clients. Too often, legislators don’t understand our industry, or they paint the good and bad actors with the same brush, so it’s vital to be proactive as legislation is written and debated.
Litigation financing can serve a diversity of clients and needs. Sometimes, it helps individuals pay their rent while settlement negotiations drag on. Other times, it can provide a litigator with the funds they need to hire an expert witness or get an expensive analysis completed that can make their case. It can also be used for operating capital for commercial entities during litigation to cover their costs. Get creative in the way you look at legal funding, and you’ll always find people who will benefit from your support.
I am the CEO of Tribeca Lawsuit Loans. We fund a wide diversity of personal injury and mass tort litigation. The cases I am closely watching in 2022 include:
- California wildfire cases with PG&E
- Bayer seeking protection from Round Up damages
- Sackler family saga and opioids
Lastly, wrongful imprisonment cases will forever be near and dear to my heart. Accordingly, I’ll be fascinated to see how the class action lawsuit against Hertz — for its disgraceful practice of falsely accusing customers of rental vehicle theft—shakes out.
The author of this article is Rory Donadio. Rory can be reached by email: rory.donadio@tribecacapllc.com
