The Senate Civil Law Committee heard Sen. Head’s SB 373 on funding of lawsuits. This bill establishes a procedure by which a company may provide funding to the plaintiff in an action in exchange for the contingent right to receive a part of the potential proceeds of the action. It also requires a company that offers funding to plaintiffs to register with the Secretary of State. Representatives from the Oasis Legal Finance and American Legal Finance Association, suppliers of this type of funding, testified in support of the bill. A representative of the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform made suggestions to make the bill more stringent. Indiana Chamber of Commerce testified that they would like to see more regulation, but would like the bill to move forward.
The bill was amended by consent to exclude civil justice funding from the balloon payment provision. The amended bill passed 8-0.
Read the bill at http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2015/bills/senate/373.