Workers’ Compensation Lawsuit Funding
Workers who have been injured on the job and who have retained an attorney to bring a workers’ compensation (a.k.a. workmen’s compensation, workman’s compensation, or workers’ comp for short) lawsuit may be eligible for an advance on the settlement from their workers’ compensation lawsuit. The first eligibility criteria is the state in which the workers’ compensation claim is being made. The states in which we are able to advance on workers’ compensation cases are listed below. Please note that this list is subject to change as state laws change.
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- West Virginia
The states listed below are those in which lawsuit funding on a workers’ compensation lawsuit CANNOT be done. The reason for this is that the settlement is paid directly to the injured worker rather than being paid to the attorney first. The attorney must be in a position to repay the lawsuit funding advance. The attorney cannot do that if the attorney does not receive the settlement payment for your workers’ compensation lawsuit. In the states listed below one check is sent to the attorney for their fee and a separate check is sent to the injured worker as settlement for their workers’ compensation lawsuit.
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- Nevada
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington, D.C.
- Washington state
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
The following states are handled on a case by case basis. Consult your attorney to determine if the settlement in your case will go to the attorney first and if the attorney will then write you a check for your share of the settlement.
- Michigan
- Oklahoma
Generally speaking, lawsuit funding can be obtained on workers’ compensation lawsuits if the plaintiff (the injured worker) has obtained a disability rating, liens are permitted, and direction of settlement payments is 100% through the attorney’s trust account. We recommend that you check with your attorney if these conditions are true for your case in your state before seeking lawsuit funding for your workers’ compensation lawsuit against your employer.
Aside from state workers’ compensation laws, there are also 2 federal laws that apply to work-related injuries for which lawsuit funding can be obtained. One of these is the Jones Act which applies to injuries that occur on boats, ships, barges, and oil rigs. The other is FELA. This law applies to injuries that occur on railroads.
Unfortunately, the federal, law that is directed at injuries to longshoremen and harbor workers does NOT qualify for lawsuit funding because the settlement under this law is paid via separate checks to the attorney and the injured worker. Since the attorney does not have control of the injured worker’s settlement, the attorney will not be able to repay an advance against those settlement proceeds. Therefore, lawsuit funding advances are NOT possible in cases under the federal Longshoremen and harbor workers law.
If you were injured on the job through the fault of someone other than a person working for your employer, then you also may be able to bring what is known as a “third-party” lawsuit funding.
The documents we need to see for workers’ compensation lawsuits include the following
- attorney/client retainer agreement (optional)
- incident report (if exists)
- workers’ compensation petition
- medical records including emergency room reports, X-ray reports, MRI reports, CAT scan reports, surgical reports, and doctor’s narrative reports summarizing your medical condition at the time of the exam by the doctor
- occupation and salary on the date of the incident
Several basic questions about lawsuit finding are answered on the page FAQs About Lawsuit Funding.
If you have additional questions, or if you would like to learn if your lawsuit qualifies for lawsuit funding, please click here to contact us