Lawyers are facing a tough time in today's harsh economic environment. Many are unemployed because of the layoffs due to rough economic conditions or the changing legal landscape. Even in law schools, many students are facing dire prospects when they get out of school because of the lack of jobs.
It seems like it was only yesterday when the mantra for students was a college education guaranteed you a good job. Today, it's going to take more than a college education to get a good job, and law is no exception. The industry is changing for almost all practice areas, and with globalization, more people abroad have the skills to do the job. Recent law school graduates now see a shrinking landscape in a once thought to be safe career.
Some have started suing law schools because of claims of deception and fraud. For the unemployed lawyer, they can use the information in this post to practice doing what they love and try and eke out a living. For lawyers in the civil litigation field, they might be a good fit for legal settlement funding. A struggling lawyer with a good case that ends up settling can get an advance on the settled case from a legal funding company. That advance can then help him take on another case, which will help build his reputation and practice.
The lawyer can look at legal funding as a seed to help their business grow, because in life, and specifically in law, money is an essential asset to winning. For an injured client who has been scarred for life, or for the mother who lost her job through sexual harassment and has no way to feed her kids, the good fight doesn't matter if they have no hope of winning. A defendant, especially a big corporation, is well funded and possibly insured to fight lawsuits from aggrieved parties.
Legal funding can help even the odds between a high powered defendant and a plaintiff's attorney. Even the most talented and persuasive attorney needs money for essential expenses. Filing for documents, buying subscriptions for databases to research cases, gas, faxes, court trips, expert witnesses, and other expenses are necessary to do a thorough job.
A lawyer always needs to be prepared to take a case to court. If the necessary tools to do so are not available, an attorney is sometimes forced to take an early, low ball settlement. Legal funding can help provide the lawyer with immediate access to capital so he can pursue a case to its fullest and build his practice. In today's harsh economic landscape, legal settlement funding may be more important than ever before.
Written by David Smethie, Deal Origination Manager at RD Legal Funding, LLC
