Oklahoma Governor Fallin Praised for Signing SB 1016
New law will create standards for consumer legal funding.
NEW YORK, NY –American Legal Finance Association (ALFA), the leading advocate for ethical standards in consumer legal funding, praised Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin for signing SB 1016. Senator Brian Crain and Representative Leslie Osborn sponsored the consumer protection legislation.
“ALFA is a strong advocate of providing transparency to legal funding clients,” said ALFA Chairman Harvey Hirschfeld. “Consumers deserve complete disclosure when they enter into a legal funding agreement. We welcome this positive step forward which protects consumers in need of assistance.”
SB 1016 provides structure and transparency to consumer litigation funding agreements including disclosure requirements, rescission periods, requiring licenses for providers, and prohibiting commissions or referral fees between companies and legal or medical professionals. SB 1016 was signed into law by Governor Fallin on May 29, 2013.
“Our members are required to follow a set of industry ‘Best Practices’,” added ALFA Executive Director Kelly Gilroy. “Thanks to the legislature and Governor Fallin, Oklahoma consumers will now have the weight of law behind some of our ‘Best Practices’ should they seek legal funding.”
About American Legal Finance Association (ALFA): The American Legal Finance Association is the industry trade association that represents the leading consumer legal funding companies in the nation. ALFA is dedicated to ensuring fair, ethical, and transparent standards in consumer legal funding. ALFA requires all of its members to adhere to a list of “Best Practices” for the legal finance industry. The majority of all legal funding transactions occur through ALFA member companies. ALFA members help fund life needs and not legal costs.
About Consumer Legal Funding: Consumer legal funding is a unique financial product that helps consumers “make ends meet” while waiting for a fair settlement to be reached in their case, a process that can take months, even years. In many cases, the injured parties don’t have the financial resources to support themselves through a lengthy and costly settlement process. Legal finance companies provide funds to consumers to cover basic life needs such as housing, utilities, and food as they wait for the resolution of their claim. These are non-recourse transactions. In the event that there are not sufficient funds available from a settlement or judgment, the consumer does not owe anything to the consumer legal funding company.
