Structured Settlements in Canada

Posted on June 5, 2008 by David Austin

I recently read an article about structured settlements in Canada.  These are not limited to the United States.


An injured plaintiff who has proved his or her case may choose to settle out of court and be paid in a lump sum or through a structured settlement.

With a lump sum, you get all your money up front. A structured settlement, on the other hand, is an agreement to make periodic payments over a number of years.

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Structured settlements, which have been around in Canada since the late 1970s, are worth considering if the amount of the settlement is more than $100,000.

They are recommended in most infant and serious personal injury cases, and may be appropriate if you have future care needs, or if you're unable to work and earn a living or as much as you did before the accident.

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Litigation Funding in Canada

Posted on March 11, 2008 by David Austin

Litigation funding is a way for plaintiffs to stay in a case.  Because now they have the financial ability to see the case through to the end.  It is most known in the US for it's ties to personal injury lawsuits, however commercial litigants can also benefit from the industry.

In this article I found at Lawyers Weekly it discusses the expansion of the litigation funding business to Canada.

The high cost of litigation can be an obstacle for some plaintiffs, and even more so when these parties are suing for personal injuries they have suffered which have rendered them unable to work. A new source of funding now aims to help them fight their lawsuits through to a settlement or judgment. Known as third party litigation funding, the relatively new resource in Canada has been around for some time in jurisdictions such as the U.S. and the U.K., where it has received both praise and criticism.

Third party litigation funding helps finance litigation by providing loans to plaintiffs to help pay for certain expenses incurred in the course of a lawsuit. The money can be used to pay for legal disbursements such as medical assessments and expert reports, or it can be used to pay for day-to-day living expenses and rehabilitation costs. It is often the last resort for the plaintiff, who is usually unable to obtain loans from conventional sources such as banks.

Source:  LawyersWeekly.com

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