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The officer who hurt you will almost certainly never write you a check. A city, a county, or a public risk pool usually does, and those offices work on their own calendar. Your civil rights case can sit in federal court for years while an immunity appeal is decided. Police misconduct lawsuit funding can put money in your hands during that wait, if you are approved, so the delay stops working against you.
Here is what matters in a case like this. A Section 1983 claim can end on qualified immunity before a jury hears a word of it, and your attorney can tell you where yours stands on that. If we fund you, that money is non-recourse. If the case ends that way, or you lose at trial, the money stays yours and there is nothing to repay. No credit pull, no monthly payments, and it is not a loan. You do need an attorney working on contingency.
No credit check. No monthly payments. No cost to apply. If your Police Misconduct case does not recover, you owe us nothing and you keep what we advanced. You must have an attorney handling the claim on contingency.
Most of these lawsuits are filed under Section 1983, and they carry a delay that few other cases have. Officers can ask the judge to throw the claim out on qualified immunity. If the judge refuses, they are often allowed to appeal that refusal before any trial, and the case sits frozen while a court of appeals takes its time. Your attorney can explain how that works in your court.
What makes these cases different is that the incident often took your income too. A booking photo runs in the local paper and the job disappears. A charge from that same night means paying a criminal defense lawyer while the civil case waits. People coming home after a wrongful conviction start with no ID, no work history, no dentist, and no savings at all.
And a settlement date is not a payday. Big cities usually pay these claims out of their own budget. Smaller towns and counties tend to go through a public risk pool. Either way there is often a council or board vote in an open meeting, then a finance office that cuts checks on its own schedule. Add a fight over attorney fees and the file can stay open long after everyone agrees on a number.
In California, pure comparative fault and the hospital-lien cap shape what you actually net — and the wait after you settle surprises almost everyone.
There are no receipts to submit and no restrictions on how you spend it, other than this: funding is for your living expenses, not for paying the costs of the litigation itself.
Never your credit, your income or your job history. Only the claim.
We look for something outside the officer's own report. Body-worn and dash camera video, a bystander's phone, dispatch audio, the jail's intake photos, and the ER chart from that night. Where footage is missing or overwritten, prior complaints against the same officers matter more.
Has the claim already survived a motion to dismiss? Is a qualified immunity appeal pending or decided? Is there still an open criminal charge from the same incident, which can pause the civil case in some courts? Your attorney's read on posture drives most Section 1983 funding decisions.
Officers rarely pay these claims themselves. We look at which city, county, or agency stands behind them, whether the claim reaches the department's own policies and training, and whether that government self-insures or sits in a public risk pool. Damage caps can apply, and your attorney can explain yours.
Underwriters weigh treatment records, lost wages, time held, and how long the effects lasted. Claims built only on emotional harm are harder to value, especially for people injured while in custody, and your attorney can explain the limits your court applies. We also check Medicaid, jail medical, and prior advances.
Tell us who you are, what happened and who represents you. No credit check, no bank statements, no employment history — the case is the application.
2 minutesWe request the case file from your law firm and handle the paperwork with their staff. Your attorney's involvement is a signature and a few documents — not hours of work.
Same dayOur underwriters look at liability, injuries, treatment and available insurance coverage to decide what your claim can support. Your credit score and income never enter into it.
24 hours (typical)You review a plain-English agreement that states exactly what you will owe at settlement. Sign it and funds go out the same day by direct deposit, wire, or in-person pickup.
Same dayOften we can. That freeze is when many people run out of room, because the case usually stalls and settlement talk goes quiet. What we need is your attorney's read on where the appeal stands and what survived in the trial court.
If immunity was granted and the claim is finished, there is nothing left for us to fund. If it is still being fought, send the file over. On timing, a decision typically comes about a day after your attorney's office sends it, and when the answer is yes and you sign, funding usually goes out the same day. Civil rights files run heavier than most, with pleadings, video, and jail or hospital records to read, so some take an extra day. Those are typical timelines, not something we promise. We fund throughout the US, subject to state law and availability.
Not automatically. Charges like resisting or disorderly conduct are common after a use of force, and judges often pause the civil case until the criminal side ends. Some outcomes on the criminal case can also affect what civil claims survive, so ask your civil rights attorney how that works where you are.
We still review these. A pending charge is one thing underwriters weigh, not an automatic no.
They are two different tracks. A civil rights lawsuit against the officers and the city is separate from a state wrongful conviction compensation claim, and states differ on how the two interact, so have your attorney walk you through yours before you file anything.
Wrongful imprisonment funding here is tied to the lawsuit your contingency attorney is handling. It is built to cover the first year home, which tends to be the hardest one.
That combination is common, and it does not end a civil claim on its own. A prosecutor's decision not to charge an officer, and a department clearing its own officer internally, are separate from your civil claim. Different standards apply, and your attorney can explain how that plays out in your case.
Underwriters care more about what the video, the records, and the medical file show than about what internal affairs concluded.
This part surprises almost everyone. Many public settlements have to be approved in an open meeting by a council or a board, then routed through a finance or comptroller's office, then cleared of liens before anything reaches your attorney's trust account. Those steps differ from one city to the next, so ask your attorney what yours does. Weeks or months can pass.
If we can approve the case, a civil rights settlement advance can bridge that gap. Because the number is already agreed, that review is usually shorter.
Yes. Once funds reach your account, what they pay for is your call. Criminal defense fees come up constantly in these cases, right next to rent, therapy, and the car still sitting in impound.
One thing to keep straight. The advance is tied to your civil rights lawsuit, not the criminal case. Your civil rights attorney is the one who signs off with us, and your criminal lawyer does not have to be involved at all.
Underwriting looks at the same things across every case type. If yours is not listed anywhere on this site, call or text and ask.
Apply in about two minutes. We contact your attorney, review the case, and if you're approved you can have funds the same day. No credit check, no monthly payments, and if you lose, you owe us nothing.