In today's ever popular market of litigation funding, most of the funding companies offer pre-settlement funding for clients with pending lawsuits. Most of those companies offer pre-settlement funding on personal injury claims only. Recently, a few firms are offering pre-settlement funding on commercial cases. That has created a lot more opportunities for plaintiffs in complex litigation like intellectual property litigation to get the financing they need. Intellectual property lawsuits are very expensive to maintain. Why should a client consider a pre-settlement advance? Due to the legal process, it could take years for a case to settle and, in commercial cases, the costs involved with maintaining litigation are too high for most attorneys to cover. The New York City Bar Association recently released a new formal Opinion regarding third party litigation financing, a/k/a pre-settlement funding.

The Opinion states that it is not unethical for an attorney to represent a client that enters into an agreement with a third party lender. However, when clients enter into such agreements attorneys must be aware of the ethical issues that may arise as a result such as:

1) the legality of the agreement - an attorney should advise the client and refrain from entering into an unlawful transaction,
2) the attorney as an advisor - an attorney should advise the client to consider the costs and benefits of litigation funding, in addition to possible alternatives,
3) conflicts of interest - an attorney may refer a client to a litigation funding company but cannot accept a referral fee from the company if the fee compromises the attorneys ethical obligations,
4) privilege and confidentiality - an attorney cannot disclose confidential information to a funding company unless the attorney receives the client's consent and should not disclose any more information that is necessary in their own judgment, and
5) the control over the legal proceeding - an attorney may not allow the funding company to influence their professional judgment in determining the course of litigation.

Litigation funding is on the rise and can be a valuable means for plaintiffs during the pendency of their case. Most litigation funding companies will initially require some basic case information in order to consider a client's request for an advance. If anything beyond that information is required, the attorney is contacted. If the transaction is approved a contract will be sent to the attorneys office for review and signature. The terms of the transaction are outlined in the agreement and all fees are disclosed. The client can decide at that point whether or not they wish to proceed with the advance.

For more information on lawsuit funding, you can visit http://www.amasset.com. American Asset Finance, LLC is a full service litigation finance and funding company. Owned and operated by attorneys, they have been providing litigation financing and funding to attorneys and clients since 1997. Unlike most companies that solely provide either pre-settlement funding or attorney loans, American Asset Finance, LLC provides the wider spectrum of litigation funding, including pre-settlement funding, post-settlement funding, and inheritance funding to help provide cash advances and lawsuit funding and financing on which attorneys and clients can consistently rely.