Are There Risks to Lawsuit Advances?

Many plaintiffs considering lawsuit advances worry about the risks that may be involved. After all, almost any sort of financing carries risks for both the lender and the borrower. Mortgages carry a risk for the lender if the mortgagee falls into default. Even though the mortgage is secured by the property, foreclosing on a home and then having to sell it to recoup the lender’s investment is rarely profitable. For the homebuyer, the mortgage is a risk if he or she (or they in the case of a married couple) cannot make the scheduled mortgage payments. Should a homeowner fall too far behind, the mortgage goes into foreclosure, the homeowner is evicted, and the homebuyer’s credit is ruined.

The good news for plaintiffs is that providers like LawMax carry all the risks involved in lawsuit advances. LawMax takes all the risk because if the case is lost or abandoned, LawMax is not repaid. If a case is lost in court, or the lawsuit is abandoned by a plaintiff, the plaintiff gets to keep any lawsuit loans received from LawMax and they owe LawMax nothing. While the risk premium LawMax charges for advances is among the most competitive in the industry, that risk premium must cover not only the cost of each advance, but also mitigate the fact that a certain percentage of cases are abandoned or lost.

LawMax also faces the risk that plaintiffs may misrepresent themselves or misrepresent their cases. In order to reduce this risk, LawMax works directly with attorneys who help the company determine the strength of each case. When a plaintiff applies for lawsuit advances, LawMax contacts the plaintiff’s attorney to request supporting documentation. The underwriters at LawMax must evaluate the merits of each case, and do so with far less documentation that a mortgage company has when it evaluates a mortgage application!

Only if the plaintiff and his or her attorney win their case at trial or they each an out-of-court settlement, does LawMax receive repayment for the advance it made against that case. Again, all the risk is on LawMax with no risk to the plaintiff should his or her lawsuit not be successful.

In fact, the one of the only risks a plaintiff who takes an advance against his or her lawsuit faces is a smaller payout once the case is settled, should the ultimate award by the court or out-of-court settlement be far less than expected. However, that plaintiff had the use of the lawsuit advance months before he or she would have had access to those funds had the plaintiff not received a lawsuit advance.