Get Cash on Your Pending Lawsuit in 24 Hours
A lawsuit loan is a cash advance against the future value of your pending case, repaid only when you win and forgiven if you lose. There is no credit check, no income verification, and no monthly payment while your case is open. Funds typically arrive within one to three business days of your attorney sending us your case file.
About 37% of U.S. adults cannot cover a $400 emergency expense from savings, and median civil cases in state courts run roughly 24 months from filing to disposition (Federal Reserve Economic Well-Being Report, 2023). For an injured plaintiff sitting on a strong case but no paycheck, that math is brutal. A lawsuit loan is built for that exact gap.
Apply Now in 2 MinutesQuick Facts
- Funding range: $500 to $250,000+ on qualifying cases
- Approval window: 24 to 48 hours after attorney sends documents
- Cost if you lose: $0 (the advance is non-recourse)
- Credit check: None. Income and job status do not factor in.
- Monthly payments: None. Repayment only happens at settlement.
Table of Contents
What Is a Lawsuit Loan?
A lawsuit loan is non-recourse funding paid to an injured plaintiff while their lawsuit is still open. The funder buys a portion of the future settlement, the plaintiff receives cash now, and the agreed payback amount is taken out of the settlement proceeds at the end of the case. If the case is lost, dismissed, or dropped, the plaintiff owes nothing back.
The word “loan” is shorthand. Legally, a lawsuit loan in most states is a sale of a slice of the case proceeds, not a consumer loan. That legal distinction is the reason credit score, employment, income, and prior bankruptcies do not factor into approval. The funder is not betting on you. The funder is betting on the case.
Three things make this product different from any other source of cash an injured plaintiff might consider:
- No personal liability. Your payback is capped by your settlement. You cannot end up owing more than the case pays out.
- No monthly payments. Nothing is due while your case is active. Cash flow during the wait is preserved.
- No effect on the case. Your attorney still runs the litigation. The funder is passive and has no decision power over settlement.
Learn how pre-settlement funding works.
How Do Lawsuit Loans Work?
The full process from application to wired funds usually closes in two to three business days. The bottleneck is almost never the funder. It is the law firm pulling and sending the case file.
Step 1: Apply. A two-minute form online or one phone call. We collect your name, contact details, your attorney’s information, and a short description of what happened. No credit pull. No pay stubs. No tax returns.
Step 2: Attorney contact. Our case team reaches out to your attorney directly. We request the documents needed to evaluate the case: complaint or demand letter, police or incident report, medical records, and any settlement correspondence with the defendant’s insurance carrier.
Step 3: Underwriting. A case analyst reviews liability, damages, defendant insurance coverage, and likely settlement value. Cases with clearer liability and better-documented injuries qualify for larger advances.
Step 4: Contract. If you are approved, you and your attorney sign a written funding agreement. The contract spells out the advance amount, the fixed payback figures at six-month milestones, and the maximum total payback (capped in writing).
Step 5: Funding. Money is wired to your bank account or sent by overnight check, usually within 24 hours of signed contracts.
You never write a check to the funder. When the case settles, your attorney pays the agreed amount directly from the settlement proceeds before distributing your share. Repayment is built into the settlement closing, not into your monthly budget.
Who Qualifies for a Lawsuit Loan?
Three things drive approval: an attorney representing you on contingency, documented liability against the defendant, and a case that has not yet settled or been dismissed. Personal credit, income, and employment history are not part of the decision.
You typically qualify if:
- You have a licensed attorney handling your case on a contingency fee
- Liability against the defendant is supported by a police report, incident report, witness statements, or other documentation
- You have medical records or other proof of damages tied to the incident
- Your case has not been settled, dismissed, or released
- The statute of limitations has not expired in your state
You will not qualify if:
- You are representing yourself (we do not fund pro se cases)
- Liability is genuinely uncertain with no documentation, no witnesses, and no admissible evidence
- You have already signed a final settlement release
- The case has been dismissed with prejudice
Approval rides on the case file, not on the applicant personally. A plaintiff with a 520 credit score and a strong rear-end collision case is more likely to be funded than a plaintiff with an 800 credit score and a contested case with no police report.
How Much Can You Borrow Against Your Lawsuit?
Approved advance amounts typically fall between 10% and 20% of the expected net settlement value, meaning the settlement projection minus attorney fees and litigation costs. On a case projected to settle at $100,000 with $40,000 in fees and costs, the net is $60,000, and a reasonable advance lands between $6,000 and $12,000.
Several factors push the approved amount higher:
- Severity of injury or damages. Surgeries, fractures, traumatic brain injury, spinal damage, and amputations drive settlement values up.
- Liability clarity. Cases with clear fault and corroborating evidence carry less risk and qualify for larger draws.
- Insurance policy limits. Commercial vehicle and product liability policies often start at $1 million. State-minimum auto policies may cap at $25,000 to $50,000.
- Case maturity. Cases close to settlement carry less duration risk and qualify for larger advances.
- Defendant solvency. Insured corporate defendants fund higher than uninsured individuals.
Plaintiffs with severe injuries against well-insured corporate defendants have received advances above $250,000. Plaintiffs with soft-tissue injuries on minimum-limit auto policies may qualify for $500 to $5,000. The number is shaped by what the case is realistically worth, not by what the plaintiff personally needs.
From our underwriting desk: The strongest predictor of a high approved amount is not injury severity by itself. It is clear liability paired with a defendant who carries deep insurance. A moderate injury against a national trucking company often funds higher than a severe injury against an uninsured driver.
How Fast Can You Get Funded?
Most funding decisions are reached within 24 hours of receiving the attorney’s documents. Applications submitted Monday morning often fund by Wednesday. Applications submitted late Friday usually fund the following Tuesday because most law office mailrooms close for the weekend.
A realistic timing breakdown:
- Same day: Application submitted, attorney contacted, case documents requested
- Day 1 to 2: Documents received, underwriting completes review
- Day 2 to 3: Contract signed, funds wired or check overnighted
The fastest applications are the ones where the plaintiff calls their lawyer’s office the same day they apply and asks the paralegal to send the requested documents promptly. Cases with a demand letter already on file move to the front of the underwriting queue because the demand letter tells us what the attorney believes the case is worth.
What If You Lose Your Case?
You owe nothing. Not a dollar.
The lawsuit loan agreement is non-recourse. The funder’s right to repayment exists only if your case results in a settlement or judgment in your favor. If a jury rules against you, your attorney withdraws, or the case is dismissed, the advance is forgiven. Nothing is sent to collections. Nothing appears on your credit report. The funder absorbs the entire loss.
That loss risk is built into the pricing, which is why payback figures look higher than bank interest rates. The funder is absorbing the cost of every losing case across the portfolio. For the individual plaintiff, the trade is simple: a predictable, capped cost if you win, and zero cost if you lose.
Lawsuit Loans vs. Credit Cards and Personal Loans
Most plaintiffs only consider a lawsuit loan after they have already explored credit cards, personal loans, or family money. Each of those carries a different kind of risk, and most of them get worse the longer the case drags on.
| Option | Owed if case loses? | Credit check | Monthly payments | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lawsuit loan | No | None | None | Capped by settlement |
| Credit card | Yes | Yes | Yes | Variable rates, credit damage |
| Personal loan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Income requirement, default risk |
| Borrowing from family | Yes | None | Negotiated | Strained relationships |
| Skipping medical care | N/A | N/A | N/A | Hurts health and case value |
A lawsuit loan is the only option on that list that disappears if your case fails. Every other option keeps charging you whether you win or not.
What Types of Cases Qualify for a Lawsuit Loan?
Lawsuit loans are available across most personal injury and civil litigation categories. Common qualifying case types include:
- Motor vehicle accidents. Car, truck, motorcycle, rideshare, pedestrian, and bicycle cases.
- Premises liability. Slip and fall, negligent security, and dog bite cases on commercial or municipal property.
- Product liability. Defective drugs, medical devices, vehicles, and consumer products.
- Medical malpractice. Surgical errors, misdiagnosis, birth injuries, and nursing home neglect.
- Workplace injuries. Third-party liability claims and qualifying workers’ compensation cases.
- Mass tort and class action cases. Talc, hernia mesh, hair relaxer, Roundup, AFFF firefighting foam, Camp Lejeune, and similar dockets.
- Sexual abuse and assault claims. Boy Scouts, clergy, university Title IX, juvenile detention, and adult survivor cases.
- Wrongful death. Estate or surviving family member as plaintiff.
- Civil rights and police misconduct. Excessive force, wrongful arrest, and Section 1983 cases.
- Employment claims. Discrimination, wrongful termination, and harassment cases.
Cases involving commercial defendants, deep insurance coverage, or punitive damages tend to fund at higher amounts because the settlement ceiling is higher.
Check the complete list of cases eligible for lawsuit funding from our pre-settlement funding company.
Is a Lawsuit Loan Legal in My State?
Lawsuit funding is legal in all 50 states. A growing number of states have passed consumer-protection statutes governing how funding contracts must be disclosed, capped, or registered. Maine, Vermont, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Illinois have funding-specific statutes on the books, and the American Bar Association has published guidance on alternative litigation finance for attorneys with clients who use these products (American Bar Association on alternative litigation finance).
We comply with the funding statutes in every state where we operate, and we cap maximum total payback in writing inside every contract, including in states that do not legally require a cap. If a funder will not put a maximum payback figure in the contract, that is the loudest red flag in the industry.
How to Apply for a Lawsuit Loan
The intake is intentionally short. You need three things:
- Your contact information. Name, phone number, email.
- Your attorney’s information. Law firm name, attorney’s name, and a direct phone number.
- A short case description. What happened, when, where, and what injuries or damages you suffered.
That is the entire application. Three items. Our underwriting team handles everything else: contacting your attorney, requesting documents, reviewing the file, and returning a decision within 24 hours.
No credit pull. No income, employment, or tax records requested. No documents required from you personally. The decision rests on the case file.
Why Choose ECO Pre-settlement Funding
ECO Pre-settlement Funding works with plaintiffs across all 50 states. Our underwriting team includes former personal injury paralegals and case managers, which means we read case files the way your attorney does and approve based on the same evidence a trial lawyer values: documented liability and verified damages.
What separates the experience here:
- No hidden fees. The contract spells out exactly what you owe at every six-month milestone. No origination surprises, no wire fees buried in fine print.
- Capped repayment in writing. Maximum total payback is in the contract for every case, in every state. Long cases do not result in runaway interest.
- No prepayment penalty. If the case settles in 90 days, you owe the 90-day figure, not the full term.
- Direct attorney communication. Your attorney’s paralegal talks to our underwriter directly. There is no sales floor between you and the decision.
- Funding across all case stages. Whether you filed last month or trial starts in 60 days, we evaluate the file on its merits.
Our offices are based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (HQ) and Rutherford, New Jersey, and we fund cases nationwide. You can reach us by phone, email, or the apply form below.
Give us a call now
To know more about lawsuit loans, discuss with our executives now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are lawsuit loans really loans?
No, not in the traditional sense. A lawsuit loan is a non-recourse cash advance against a portion of your future settlement, not a consumer loan. There are no monthly payments, no traditional interest accrual, no credit reporting, and no personal liability if your case loses. The transaction is structured as a purchase of a portion of the case proceeds. The word “loan” is industry shorthand and used because that is how plaintiffs search for the product.
Will applying for a lawsuit loan affect my credit score?
No. We do not pull credit and the application is not reported to any credit bureau. Lawsuit funding is tied to your case, not your personal credit. Your score is unchanged whether you apply, are approved, or use the funds.
Does my attorney have to approve the funding?
Yes. Your attorney must sign an acknowledgment of the funding agreement and agree to disburse the payback amount from settlement proceeds. Most personal injury attorneys are familiar with the process and supportive when clients face financial pressure during long cases. We do not fund cases without attorney involvement.
How much will I owe at settlement?
The total payback is fixed in the contract and grows on a disclosed schedule. A $5,000 advance settled in 12 months might require $7,500 to $9,000 in payback, depending on the state and the case. Your contract spells out the exact figures at 6, 12, 18, and 24 month milestones, and the maximum payback is capped in writing.
Can I get a second lawsuit loan if I already have one?
Sometimes. If the prior funder’s lien plus our advance still leaves meaningful settlement value for you after attorney fees, a second advance is possible. We coordinate directly with the prior funder to confirm balances and structure the additional lien so it does not consume your entire net recovery.
What if my case takes years to settle?
Most state statutes and reputable funder contracts cap the total payback amount, so long cases do not result in unlimited interest accrual. The maximum repayment figure in your contract is what you owe regardless of duration. If a funder refuses to write a cap into the contract, walk away.
Can I use the lawsuit loan money for anything?
Yes. Funds are wired directly to your bank account. Most plaintiffs use the money for rent, mortgage, groceries, car payments, utilities, medical co-pays, and household bills. There are no spending restrictions and no receipts to submit.
How long does the lawsuit loan application take?
The application form takes about two minutes. The full process from submission to wired funds usually takes two to three business days. Speed depends mainly on how quickly your attorney’s office sends over the case documents.
What types of cases qualify for a lawsuit loan?
Motor vehicle accidents, premises liability, product liability, medical malpractice, workplace injuries, mass tort, sexual abuse claims, wrongful death, civil rights, and employment cases all qualify. The universal requirements are an attorney on contingency, documented liability, and an open case that has not been settled or dismissed.
Are lawsuit loans legal in my state?
Yes, in all 50 states. Several states, including Maine, Vermont, Indiana, Nebraska, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Illinois, have passed funding statutes covering disclosure, rate caps, and registration. Reputable funders comply with those statutes and operate within state rules.
Apply Today and Get a Decision in 24 Hours
If your case is pending and you need cash to cover bills while you wait for settlement, you can apply in under two minutes. Approval typically comes within 24 hours of your attorney sending case documents, and funds are wired or overnighted within a day of signed contracts. You owe nothing if your case loses. You owe the agreed payback amount only when your case settles. Nothing in between, nothing on your credit report, and no monthly payments while you wait.