Thursday, March 15, 2012

Oklahoma considers banning litigation financing

Back in January, 2011, I reported that the Illinois legislature rejected a bill that attempted to regulate entities that lend money to litigants in exchange for a percentage of the amount recovered in the case.  Typically, the interest rates on those loans are very high (I have seen ads that say the rates are over 45%, for example.)  For some background information on the issues related to this industry, you can take a look at the discussion of the legal and ethical issues that relate to the litigation loan industry in Room for Debate, the Legal Ethics Forum and The Wall Street Journal Law Blog, the NY Bar Association and the New York Times

Now comes news that in Oklahoma, Oklahoma Senate Bill 1780 would make it against the law for a company to make a loan to a plaintiff that would be paid back from settlement funds or a jury award. It would apply to any case pending in an Oklahoma state court or any federal court in the state.  Go here for the full story.

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