Frequently Asked Questions on Litigation Finance, Personal Injury Settlements and More

When you’re waiting for a personal injury settlement, payment can take a long time. We understand that bills and monthly expenses won’t wait for your case to be settled.

CapTran® strives to be the most reliable lawsuit funding company around, and to this end, we want you to be as educated as possible when choosing a lawsuit funding company or learning more about pre-settlement lawsuit funding.

By reading our frequently asked questions, we hope you’ll become more informed about the services we offer, such as our personal injury lawsuit funding.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q - Are there any application fees?

A - No. We never charge an application fee, such as many of our competitors do. We are happy to review your case, whether it's a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death suit, and tell you the amount of investment fee we would require. There is no obligation on your part until you decide to accept our proposal.

Q - What does it mean to "invest in a lawsuit"?

A - CapTran® literally buys a piece of the future settlement proceeds of your lawsuit, such as the proceeds from a personal injury settlement. We give you cash today in exchange for a specific amount of any settlement or judgment that is derived from the litigation. If the case is lost, we lose also and you owe us nothing, not even the money we invested.

Q - Is buying a lawsuit settlement legal?

A - Yes, the settlement proceeds, after paying your attorney and medical liens, is yours to do with what you wish. You may sell or assign it. As a matter of fact, you have probably already assigned a portion of it to your attorney under a contingency fee agreement.

Q - Why don't I just get a bank loan?

A - Traditional financial institutions, including banks, do not generally lend solely on the merits of a lawsuit. They deem the practice of litigation finance or funding as too risky.

Q - Why can't my attorney lend me money?

A - The American Bar Association prohibits attorneys from lending money to clients for anything but case expenses. This prohibition exists to prevent a conflict of interest from arising. If you owed your attorney money you might feel pressured to accept your attorney's advise to settle your case when you really did not want to accept the amount offered.

Q - What role will CapTran®? play in the management of my case?

A - CapTran® plays absolutely no role in the management of your case. That is left to you and your attorney.

Q - What happens if I lose my case?

A - You owe us absolutely nothing. We risked our whole lawsuit advance on your case and we lost.

Q - What amounts will CapTran® invest in a case?

A - CapTran® will invest between $1,000 and $20,000 in a single case. However, we have done transactions as little as $500. We have also tailored monthly subsistence payments for plaintiffs whose cases are expected to have long durations.

Q- In what types of cases will CapTran® invest?

A - CapTran® will invest in many different types of cases including: Personal Injury Vehicle, Personal Injury Premises, Personal Injury Assault, Workers Compensation, Wrongful Death, Medical Malpractice, Sexual Harassment and FELA.

Q - For what purposes can the proceeds be used?

A - CapTran® is a financial resource of last resort that grants lawsuit advances to plaintiffs.. While we do not place limitations on use of proceeds, we look more favorably upon those cases where the proceeds are used to pay bills or case expenses such as expert witnesses, recreations etc.

Q - How long does it take to get approved for a lawsuit advance?

A - From the time we have all the information we need from the clients' attorney, we strive to have a decision whether to approve or deny your lawsuit cash advance within 48-72 hours for cases under $5,000 and an additional few days for investments $5,000 and greater. The reason for the different time lines is that we have every case $5,000 and greater reviewed by our own counsel.

Q - What, if anything, will CapTran® require from the attorney after the deal is closed?

A - CapTran® will periodically send a follow-up questionnaire and request that the attorney fill it out and return it using a self-addressed stamped envelope provided for convenience.

Q - Does CapTran® use its own funds or is it a broker?

A - CapTran® uses its own funds. We have investors who participate via single-purpose funding companies. These funding companies are all incorporated in Nevada. CapTran® has not yet "brokered" an investment although it may consider doing so on a large transaction. This would obviously be disclosed in a timely fashion.

Q - Do these transactions constitute "champerty" or "maintenance"?

A - Maintenance and champerty are legal concepts derived from English law. The District Court of Appeals of Florida, Fourth District has defined maintenance as "...an officious intermeddling in a suit which in no way belongs to the intermeddler by maintaining or assisting either party to the action, with money or otherwise, to prosecute or defend it." In other words, maintenance can be defined as the actions of one party inducing another party to sue a third party.

The same court described champerty as follows: "Champerty is a form of maintenance wherein one will carry on a suit in which he has no subject-matter interest at his own expense or will aid in doing so in consideration of receiving, if successful, some part of the benefits recovered."

The court noted, "officious intermeddling is a necessary element of champerty and defined it as "offering unnecessary and unwanted advice or services; meddlesome, especially in a highhanded or overbearing way."

In 1977 Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977) proscribed advertising by lawyers. Since the ruling in this landmark case, widespread advertising by lawyers has called into question the perceived evils of the stirring up of unmeritorious litigation and the improper solicitation of retainers to pursue it. Today, none of the states adhere to the rigor of the original champerty and maintenance doctrines choosing to take a modern-day approach that "officious intermeddling is a necessary element of champerty." Moreover, states such as Massachusetts and New Jersey have seen their courts reject the concept of champerty entirely.

CapTran® believes that its transactions clearly do not constitute "officious intermeddling" and thus, are not champertous.

(Currently, Maine still recognizes the champerty in the broadest sense and thus, CapTran® does not do business in this state.)

Q - Is there a Bar Association Ethics Committee Opinion regarding an attorney referring a client to CapTran®?

A - To our knowledge there are no states that prohibit referrals so long as they result in arms-length transactions. However, certain states such as Florida prohibit the attorney from taking part in the evaluation process making it difficult, if not impossible, for us to obtain enough information to make an intelligent decision. CapTran® generally does not do business in such states.

Q - Is there a Bar Association Ethics Committee Opinion regarding an attorney signing a non-statutory lien?

A - This of course, varies state by state. We have provided a list of opinions of which we are aware in Appendix A. However, CapTran® does not require attorneys to sign the contract acknowledging our lien. Rather, we require the client to issue a LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS to the attorney. We simply ask that the attorney acknowledge receipt of this letter.