Plaintiff Funding
by: Wensley McKenney
Plaintiff Funding is a controversial new finance area in which a plaintiff secures funding based strictly on the potential financial recovery from his or her pending legal claim. Similar to securing a mortgage against your home, a plaintiff can receive a cash advance against the potential future proceeds from a legal claim. There are no income or employment verifications and if the legal claim has no financial recovery, then the plaintiff is NOT obligated to repay the money.
Certain companies like Global Financial (http://www.glofin.com) offer low cost cash advances to victims of personal injury & work related injuries. The cash advances can be obtained quickly and with very little personal credit, however, there are those that oppose this type of financing. Some lawyers point out that the fees are high for their clients and that other options like dissability insurance or goverment programs may be more beneficial and less costly.
On the other hand, many Law Firms have used this type of financing to market their services to potential new clients and they realize that offering immediate cash flow can help their clients pay bills until they can heal their wounds and get back to work. It is clear that large insurance carriers are content to wait out the financially desperate plaintiffs that are desperate to settle their cases.
Plaintiff Funding can be used for many thing, many of which may directly increase the value of the legal claim. For instance, if a plaintiff does not have healthcare insurance but needs surgery, they may apply for plaintiff funding which can pay for their medical procedure and significantly increase the value of the legal claim. Even though the plaintiff will pay fees for the funding, the increased value of the legal claim will far outweigh the fees charged.
Regardless of your opinion of Plaintiff Funding, it is a new specialty finance area that is here to stay and like all other types of financial transactions it may have benefits or negative aspects depending on the terms and parties to the transaction.
About The Author
Wensley McKenney is a graduate of Tulane University and has 15 years experience in specialty finance and personal injury law.
If you have ever advertised in the Yellow Pages or even opened up the book, you will see pages and pages of lawyer advertising. Many of these lawyers make a big mistake when it comes to their ad and perhaps you are guilty of this too ‘trying to say too much. When a business tries to make the complete sale in just one ad, it is similar to meeting someone for the first time and saying, “you don’t know me, but let’s get married.” You might get some takers, but most people are not going to be ready to take that step, at least not yet.
Below are two common mistakes made by law firms when it comes to advertising.
Listing Too Many Practice Areas: You will commonly see ads that list up to thirty specialty practice areas or more. What is happening here? Basically, out of paranoia, a law firm will list every possible area of law to try to attract new cases. Big law firms have been known to make this error, because there are several attorneys with different specialties. One attorney might be in personal injury, while another is in estate planning. Both lawyers will want to have their practice areas listed, because after all, the firm is spending up to $10,000 a month on the Yellow Pages ad and they want to get their money’s worth.
Using the Same Offers & Statements As Everyone Else: Attorneys who don’t know what to say in their ads will just make statements, such as “We Care For You,” or “We Will Fight For You.” These statements will not make your law firm stand out from the other hundreds of attorney advertisements. Most people looking for a lawyer will assume that you will care about them or fight for their rights. You need to give them a reason to call you instead of the lawyer in the next advertisement. It is a major blunder to tell them the same thing that they are going to hear from every other law firm in town.
All you really need to do with your ad is get the conversation started. Your ad should reflect that you are ready to have the conversation and it should prompt people to raise their hands and respond that they are interested in what you have to say. How do you accomplish this task? Motivate them to contact you by making an irresistible offer and create a deadline. Your irresistible offer could be a report, booklet or CD. It just needs to be something that is going to get people to initiate the dialogue.
Remember, when it comes to creating your advertisements, you do not need to close the sale right then and there. Start building the relationship, so that you can eventually turn these prospects into clients.
Copyright (c) 2009 Benjamin Glass
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