As 2011 comes to a close and 2012 starts, we at Oasis Legal Finance would like to take this opportunity to thank the men and women who are currently serving in the United States Military and those who have served.

As of December 30, 2011 there has been 6,337 Servicemembers Killed in Action in Iraq and Afghanistan and 47,392 Wounded in Action. This does not include those who come back and suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, or Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI. This could be tens of thousands more.

We, as a nation, need to thank these men and women every day, but not just those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, but ALL those who have served. We cannot forget those who served in World War II, the Greatest Generation. We are losing these men and women at a rate of almost 10,000 a day. We cannot forget those who served in Korea, the Forget War. Vietnam, a conflict that divided a nation at times and when they came back our Servicemembers did not get the recognitions that they deserved. We need to also remember those who served in other conflicts such as The Berlin Air Lift, Panama, Grenada, Desert Storm, Bosnia, Kosovo and the Cold War. It was because these men and women who were and are willing to put on the uniform of the United States and stand and defend her, and the at times lay their life down for her; we have the freedoms and liberties that we have today. So we need to ensure that they and their families are always taken care of.

With this in mind Oasis has teamed up with Operation Homefront Illinois in bringing Christmas Dinner and Holiday Gift baskets to the families who are staying at the Fisher House at Hines VA Medical Center. These are families that are staying at Fisher House because their loved one that is currently in the military, or are veterans, are undergoing medical treatment. Sometimes these families have to stay at Fisher House for several months because their loved one is receiving medical treatment.

We ask you to help these organizations as you can, even if it is just to send them an email to thank them for their care and dedication.

Fisher House (http://www.fisherhouse.org/)

Operation Homefront (http://www.operationhomefront.net/)

So are you embark on a new year and look forward, to what everybody hopes is a better one. We need to thank and remember those who made this possible.

So please keep in mind the mottos of each of the branches of service.

United States Army                 Duty, Honor, Country

United State Marine Corps      Semper Fidelis “Always Faithful.”

United States Navy                 “Honor, Courage, Commitment”

United States Air Force           “Integrity First, Service Before Self, Excellence in All We Do”

United States Coast Guard        Semper Paratus “Always Ready”    

At a time when, according to the story, 46.2 millions of Americans are living in poverty and 25% of Americans could not come up with $2000 on 30 day. The big insurance companies are continuing to drag their feet on process and paying claims to those who really need it.

The article quotes a recent Harris poll (http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/Harris_Interactive_PollingSummary.pdf) in which “16 percent of surveyed adults have experienced financial hardship while waiting for an insurance claim to be settled or know someone who has”.

At the same time this is going on. The Insurance industry and their lobbyist are trying to get rid of the Consumer Legal Funding Industry. They would rather have it so consumers have only one option, and that option is to take what they think the consumer deserves and not what they are truly entitled to.

Consumer Legal Funding has proven to be a life line for consumers. It has allowed them to pay their mortgage, make a car payment and in some cases simply put food on the table while they wait for the insurance company to determine what they want to give them.

We have heard from truck drivers, waitresses, school teachers and construction workers. While their individual circumstances differ, the reason they come to Oasis looking for help is the same. These people were living their lives, playing by the rules, and doing their best to take care of their families. They worked hard, and then, through no fault of their own, an accident happened that somehow seemed to unravel all of the progress they had made.

No one plans to be in an automobile accident or an accident at work, and a financial settlement can’t replace missing a child’s baseball games because they had to go to therapy. And nothing can compensate the plaintiff for the heartbreaking conversations around the dinner table when the parent, unable to work, wonders where they can cut back in order to put food on the table and buy clothes for their kids.

One of the joys of working in the legal funding industry is being able to call a plaintiff who thought that they had nowhere to go, and tell them that Oasis has approved their legal funding request, and that the plaintiff would be able to pay the rent, or the mortgage, or for groceries.

At Oasis Legal Finance, we realize that we can help people get through these tough times, and give the plaintiffs a hand up when no one else will.

There is a secondary benefit that consumers obtain from legal funding. That benefit is “leveling the playing field” between the plaintiff and the defendant.  Unfortunately, sometimes our legal system is such that “only the strong survive.” Large companies just want to wear down the little guy until the little guy is forced to take what is offered, even when it’s not fair.  It’s just business to them, but it is deeply personal to you who are involved with the case.

The other side knows that plaintiffs often will accept an offer far less than what they deserve to settle their case quickly rather than wait it out until they can settle for a fair value. Consumer legal funding enables plaintiffs to solve their immediate financial problems and wait for their attorneys to settle their cases for what they deserve and not what the other guys wants to give.

No one can play their best with one hand tied behind their back.

There are three traditional sources of income in personal injury situations. 

Family and Friends

• These are the people who have been with you through the whole process; they remember the day of the accident and were with you in the days following.  Hopefully your family, and sometimes your friends, can be a source to borrow the funds you need.  However, this can lead to a sensitive situation and damaged relationships if you’re unable to pay them back.

Credit / loans

• If you’re like the majority of Americans, you have a credit card but it might be getting close to its max.  A loan might be an option as well if you already have an established credit rating and a relationship with a bank.  Remember, both loans and credit cards require a minimum monthly re-payment and will add to your stack of responsibilities.  If you need money now, these options can take time to materialize into actual cash.  Usually a loan requires something of value that the lender can hold as collateral (i.e house, car, jewelry, etc.).  If your situation ends up where you can’t repay the loan, the lender can take your collateral and your credit score can be damaged.

Legal Funding

• Consumer legal funding is perhaps the easiest and least risky out of all the options. Money that you receive from a consumer legal funding source is non-recourse which means that if you lose your case then you do not pay back the amount funded to you. Also, unlike a loan, you do not have begin repaying the loan in the form of monthly payments. Legal funding is also quick, from the time you apply – we speak to your attorney, and approve your funding, you can, in some cases, get the cash that very same day.

To help review each of these options, talk to your family and/or a trusted advisor. It is best to get several opinions prior to making a final decision. Also, make sure your attorney knows of your financial situation. Your attorney’s experience may shed some light on the pros and cons of these options. If you choose legal funding as your solution, your attorney will have to be involved, so it would make sense to make them aware of what you’re thinking sooner than later.

Your attorney is your counselor. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions about your case and what to expect, not only in the beginning but even as your case is progressing toward resolution. Second, determine if you will need financial help during your lawsuit, and third, if you do need help to carefully weigh all your options.

Even if you don’t have a good grasp on what your income is versus how much money you spend, you’ll find that this is a straightforward process.

If you have a budget already in place, you’re ahead of the game. If not, don’t worry! You don’t need to go through the tedious and emotional process of building out a full family budget. With a few easy steps, you’ll have a good idea of what your bills and expenses are each month.  First, write them down.  This doesn’t need to be a detailed list, but it does need to be realistic. Make sure to include items such as mortgage/rent, insurance, taxes, car payment, gas, food, utilities and other household living expenses. There may be things you need to include that are specific to your needs.

Once that’s done, you’re half way there. Now you need to write down your monthly income, and match it to your projected expenses. If your income matches or exceeds your expenses, you probably are not an ideal candidate for legal funding.  However, if your income comes up short, you have several options:

1. Cut back on any unnecessary expenses.
2. Determine the possible ways to increase your income, such as legal funding, credit and loans, or family and friends.

Though planning can be a frustrating process, it can relieve a lot of stress. No budget is perfect, but even a rough outline can help you prepare and ease the pressure.

In our next post, we’ll look at your options for additional income more in-depth.

Part 1 – Understanding and Expectations

Consumer legal funding is intended to help accident victims make ends meet while they await a fair settlement.  As accident victims assess the financial options available to them, they should consider consumer legal funding as part of the solution, but not the panacea.

First, consumer legal funding is not a loan.  Oasis is only paid back if the accident victim receives a fair settlement.  Talking with your attorney can help you understand what your case is worth and if consumer legal funding is a good option for you.  While an attorney can’t guarantee how much your case will settle for or how long it will take, he or she should be able to provide a ballpark figure.  This information will help you to plan and understand your financial needs and aid in finding a solution going forward.  

Expectations

Most personal injury claims do not result in multi-million dollar jury awards for the plaintiff.  You should be fairly compensated for your injuries, but take care to measure your expectations against what is reasonable and fair.  Understanding the reasonable outcome of your lawsuit will prepare you to plan and make sound decisions.

If your lawsuit is like the vast majority of cases in the system, it is probably safe to say that your attorney is not seeking to obtain a financial windfall. The amount your attorney is seeking should be enough, after fees and expenses, to cover your medical expenses, lost wages, repairs to your car if it was an auto accident, or in the case of a worker’s compensation claim, a sum to cover physical therapy, and then some compensation for your pain and suffering.

Once you have a solid understanding of the expected outcome of your case for both the financial award and the length of time to obtain that award, you can begin to consider your needs and if legal funding is a viable solution to help cover legal expenses. Our next post will look at what those needs may be and the potential sources to cover those needs.

A recent study by The National Bureau of Economic Research: called Financially Fragile Households: Evidence and Implications (http://www.nber.org/papers/w17072) asked the question, “If you were to face a $2,000 unexpected expense in the next month, how would you get the funds you need?” Based on the responses to this question, the researchers asserted that nearly half of Americans are ‘financially fragile.’ In addition to dipping into their savings, these Americans would have to borrow from family and friends, use PayDay loans, credit cards, or sell their possessions to meet an unexpected expense of $2,000.

Whether it is an unexpected car repair, paying the mortgage or just money to put food on the table, accident victims are often the ones who have the hardest time meeting necessary expenses. They’ve been victims twice, once by accident and again by long and drawn out settlement process that can takes years to come to a conclusion.

Many consumers with injuries have little or no source of income while their legal claim is pending, and as a result they cannot get a traditional financial product. Consumer Legal Funding offers victims an option that only has to be paid back if he or she is successful in their legal claim. As the study points out, even those consumers whose household income is in excess of $100,000, 25 percent would have a difficult time putting their hands on $2,000 in an emergency or crisis. That is why options like Consumer Legal Funding are a good alternative to those who find themselves affected by a sudden injury.

Consumer Legal Funding gives you the opportunity to catch your breath and have the ability to receive a just and fair settlement.

As you now know, consumer legal funding does not add cases to already-crowded court dockets because companies like Oasis Legal Finance require that a plaintiff be represented by an attorney in a pending legal claim before he or she is eligible to receive funding. Those plaintiffs who do receive funding from companies like Oasis will tell you that once the funding is made, they generally have no contact with the company until after their legal claim is closed. This is because consumer legal funding companies take a “back seat” approach to the litigation process. They have no input into how the legal claims are prosecuted. They do not make strategic suggestions. Also, they have no say in the plaintiff’s decision to settle his or her legal claim. Simply put, after making a funding, we step back and have no involvement in the legal process.

Consumer legal funding companies understand that the legal claim is being pursued by the plaintiff and, in turn, they have no involvement in how the plaintiff or his attorney decides to prosecute it. Companies like Oasis provide a valuable service to plaintiffs with no other options. The funding we provide helps save homes, pay utility bills, buy groceries and simply help people in need keep their heads above water while they wait for their legal claim to properly resolve.

To illustrate this, let’s consider the case of Mary, a woman not unlike many people who you may know. Mary’s job paid well, but she was living paycheck to paycheck. Then came the day she was rear ended by a truck and sustained injuries that prevented her from returning to work. She was unable to keep up with her bills despite efforts to cut back on expenses to try and make her meager savings last. Friends and family could only help so much, and she didn’t meet the criteria for state or federal aid programs. With nowhere to go for help, she was unable to make her house payment and was forced to live in her car. During this time, her injuries continued to worsen and her case was progressing very slowly.

By the time she contacted Oasis Mary literally had no other options. The funding that she received helped her secure a low income apartment and keep her head above water until her case settled. Today, Mary has finished treatment, found a job that can accommodate her injuries, and her case is now settled. Consumer Legal Funding is not for everyone, but, for Mary and many others, it makes all of the difference. It provided Mary with a place to live, and got her started on the road to recovery.