As we close the door on 2016, we look back at what readers enjoyed most on the Thrivest legal funding blog over the last 12 months. Thank you for being a part of the Thrivest community, and we look forward to serving your legal funding and specialty finance needs in 2017!
So without further ado, here are our 10 most popular blog posts from 2016:
1. Why Usury Caps Don’t Apply to Firms Factoring Future Receivables
When a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that a merchant cash advance (MCA) is legally not providing a loan, alternative lenders everywhere rejoiced. But why is this such good news for the industry? What’s so bad about being a loan? This post explains usury laws and how the financial model under which MCAs operate differ from that of companies offering loans.
2. What’s The Difference Between Commercial and Consumer Legal Funding?
This post breaks down the two main branches of practice within the legal funding industry: commercial funding–which typically finance commercial plaintiffs (businesses)–and consumer funding (like Thrivest), which finance individual plaintiffs and their attorneys who work on a contingency fee basis.
3. Lawsuit Loans? There’s No Such Thing, But There Is Something Better
The misnomer “lawsuit loans” has confused and misled consumers for nearly two decades. We debunk the myths around lawsuit loans, and explain lawsuit advances–one of the most common forms of legal funding.
4. How Thrivest Works With Retired NFL Athletes to Get Funding
In 2015, a class action lawsuit settled, promising to cover medical costs for retired NFL players who showed signs of certain neurological conditions. But due to a prolonged appeals process, the settlement isn’t due to pay out anytime soon. Here’s how Thrivest has worked with these retired athletes to secure settlement advances so that they can start undergoing treatment for potentially debilitating conditions.
5. The Evolution of Legal Funding: From Litigation Funding to Thrivest
While the legal funding industry is fairly new, it has seen rapid growth in the few short decades of its existence. We trace the evolution of the litigation funding industry from its birth in Australia to its migration across the ocean to North America.
6. Five Ways to Market Your Law Firm
Keep up with the evolving legal marketplace by adding these tried-and-true marketing practices–along with some brand-new channels–into your firm’s mix, and you’ve got a basic plan for revamping your market presence.
7. Lawsuit Funding Ethics: As Explained by Hogan, Thiel, and Gawker
Lawsuit funding doesn’t typically make it into the mainstream news cycle, but when a case involving mega-celebrity Hulk Hogan, entertainment site Gawker, and tech billionaire Peter Thiel entered the news, people who have never heard of legal finance began questioning whether the practice is ethical, let alone legal.
8. Why Basic Knowledge of Factoring is Essential to Understand Legal Funding
Legal funding is an alternative financial solution for plaintiffs and attorneys experiencing cash flow issues. This post explains what we mean by “alternative financial solution,” and breaks down the types of cash flow issues that plaintiffs and attorneys may be experiencing.
9. Litigation Funding is Ethical and Essential
Legal funding gained traction after a Delaware Superior Court justice ruled that litigation funding is acceptable in the courts, and that it grants plaintiffs and plaintiffs’ attorneys a fair playing field against wealthy opponents.
10. What to Do if Your Law Firm Finances are on the Fritz
If your small or medium law firm is struggling financially, follow these steps before making any decisions that will affect the future of your firm.
All of us at Thrivest wish you a joyous new year. We look forward to working with you in 2017!