Criterica Capital resourcesAnswer-first articles on the cost, timing, rights and structure of legal funding.https://critericacapital.com/feed.xml2026-11-01T12:00:00ZCriterica Capitalhttps://critericacapital.comAre Personal Injury Settlements Taxable?https://critericacapital.com/resources/are-personal-injury-settlements-taxable2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZFederal law excludes from income damages received on account of personal physical injuries or physical sickness. Punitive damages are not excluded, and emotional distress is treated separately.ERISA Health Plan Reimbursement From a Settlementhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/erisa-health-plan-reimbursement-from-a-settlement2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZAn ERISA health plan can seek reimbursement from an injury settlement. Under McCutchen, the plan's written terms govern, and fee sharing applies by default only when the plan says nothing.Hospital Liens Explained: How They Attach to a Settlementhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/hospital-liens-explained2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA hospital lien is a claim created by state statute against a patient's recovery. Coverage, notice and the cap on the amount differ by state.How Long After a Settlement Is Signed Until You Get Paid?https://critericacapital.com/resources/how-long-after-settlement-is-signed-until-payment2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZPayment arrives after the release is signed, the paying party sends funds, the bank makes them available, liens are resolved and your lawyer disburses from trust. Each step has its own clock.How Long Can a Bank Hold a Settlement Check?https://critericacapital.com/resources/how-long-can-a-bank-hold-a-settlement-check2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZRegulation CC requires a bank to make most check deposits available within two to five business days, and lets it hold longer in listed cases. A hold beyond that must be reasonable.How Medical Liens Are Paid Out of a Settlementhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/how-medical-liens-are-paid-from-a-settlement2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZValid medical liens are paid from the settlement funds in the lawyer's trust account, and the client receives the balance. Each lien type follows its own rules on amount and reduction.How Pre-Settlement Funding Is Repaid When a Case Settleshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/how-pre-settlement-funding-is-repaid-at-settlement2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZRepayment is taken from the settlement funds the lawyer holds in trust and appears as a line on the settlement accounting. The funding agreement sets the amount, and the lawyer pays it before the client's balance.How Medicaid Liens Work on a Personal Injury Settlementhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/medicaid-liens-on-a-settlement2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA state Medicaid agency can seek repayment from a settlement for care it paid for. Under Ahlborn, it can reach only the part of the settlement that represents medical care.Medicare Conditional Payments and the Final Demand Letterhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/medicare-conditional-payments-and-final-demand2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZMedicare can pay for injury care on the condition that it is repaid from a settlement. The conditional payment letter shows the interim amount and the final demand fixes what is owed.Portfolio Financing vs. Single-Case Funding for Law Firmshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/portfolio-financing-vs-single-case-funding2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZSingle-case funding supports one matter, while portfolio financing is arranged against a group of cases or a firm's receivables. The conduct rules on client assistance and fee sharing apply to both.Qualified vs. Non-Qualified Structured Settlementshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/qualified-vs-non-qualified-structured-settlements2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA structured settlement is qualified when the assignment meets the conditions in section 130 of the Internal Revenue Code. An arrangement that does not meet them falls outside that section.Selling Structured Settlement Payments: The Court Approval Rulehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/selling-structured-settlement-payments-and-court-approval2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZUnder federal law, buying structured settlement payment rights at a discount triggers a 40 percent excise tax on the buyer unless a court approves the transfer in advance in a qualified order.What Collateral Does a Law Firm Lender Take?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-collateral-does-a-law-firm-lender-take2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA law firm lender takes a security interest in assets the firm owns, described in the security agreement. The firm cannot pledge its clients' claims, and conduct rules limit the lender's control.What Delays a Settlement Check After a Case Settles?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-delays-a-settlement-check2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA settlement check is delayed by the paying party, by bank holds, by liens that are not yet resolved, or by a dispute over who is owed what. The lawyer can tell you which one applies.What Does Liaison Counsel Do in an MDL?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-does-liaison-counsel-do-in-an-mdl2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZLiaison counsel handles administrative coordination in a multidistrict litigation, such as communication between the court and other lawyers. Lead counsel and committees handle the substantive work.What Is a Common Benefit Fund in an MDL?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-a-common-benefit-fund2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA common benefit fund pays the lawyers whose shared work benefits all plaintiffs in a coordinated litigation. A judge may order individual plaintiffs' lawyers to contribute a percentage of their fees.What Must a Contingency Fee Agreement Say?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-a-contingency-fee-agreement2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZUnder a typical professional conduct rule, a contingency fee agreement must be in a writing signed by the client, state the percentages and address expenses. A written closing statement follows the matter.What Is a Law Firm Credit Facility?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-a-law-firm-credit-facility2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA law firm credit facility is a borrowing arrangement between a firm and a lender, documented in a security agreement over the firm's own assets. Professional conduct rules limit what a lender can control.What Is a Medicare Set-Aside in a Settlement?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-a-medicare-set-aside2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA workers' compensation Medicare set-aside allocates part of a settlement to pay for future injury-related medical care so Medicare's interests are protected. CMS review is recommended but not required.What Is a Structured Settlement?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-a-structured-settlement2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA structured settlement pays damages for a physical injury as a schedule of periodic payments instead of one lump sum. Federal law sets the conditions under which the arrangement is a qualified assignment.What Is an MDL (Multidistrict Litigation)?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-an-mdl2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA multidistrict litigation brings federal civil cases that share common questions of fact before one judge for pretrial proceedings. The judicial panel decides on transfer, and cases are remanded when pretrial work ends.What Is Lien Resolution and Who Does It?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-lien-resolution2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZLien resolution is the work of identifying every claim against a settlement, confirming each amount, reducing it where the law allows and paying it. The plaintiff's lawyer or a vendor the lawyer retains usually does it.What Is Tail Coverage for Lawyers and When Is It Needed?https://critericacapital.com/resources/what-is-tail-coverage-for-lawyers2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZTail coverage, also called extended reporting coverage, protects a lawyer against claims made after a claims-made malpractice policy ends. It matters when a lawyer changes firms, a firm merges or dissolves, or a lawyer retires.Who Pays Case Expenses in a Contingency Fee Case?https://critericacapital.com/resources/who-pays-case-expenses-in-a-contingency-case2026-11-01T12:00:00Z2026-11-01T12:00:00ZA lawyer may advance court costs and litigation expenses with repayment contingent on the outcome, and the fee agreement states how expenses are deducted from the recovery.How Litigation Finance Affects a Company's Financial Statementshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/accounting-treatment-of-litigation-finance-on-financial-statements2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZThe general accounting questions a CFO should raise before financing a claim, and why the characterization is not always straightforward.After-the-Event Insurance and Funder Interplayhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/after-the-event-insurance-and-funder-interplay2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow ATE insurance and litigation funding work together in loser-pays jurisdictions, and where their roles overlap and diverge.Financing Litigation Trust Claims in Bankruptcyhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/bankruptcy-litigation-trust-claim-monetization2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow a Chapter 11 litigation trust holds and pursues claims for creditors, and how third-party capital fits into that structure.Bellwether Economics in MDLshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/bellwether-economics-in-mdls2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow bellwether trial selection and sequencing shape the value of every plaintiff's claim in a multi-district litigation.Champerty and Maintenance: How State Doctrine Shapes Structuringhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/champerty-and-maintenance-doctrine-and-structuring2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZThe historical doctrine behind litigation funding restrictions, and how modern funding agreements are structured around it.Champerty and Maintenance Status by State: A Practical Maphttps://critericacapital.com/resources/champerty-and-maintenance-status-by-state2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZWhich states have abolished champerty as a defense to litigation funding, which retain it in limited form, and what that means in practice.Co-Investment Terms Funders Actually Negotiatehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/co-investment-terms-funders-negotiate2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZThe specific deal points that determine how a co-investment is priced and governed, beyond the headline return split.Collectability and Judgment Enforcement Diligencehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/collectability-judgment-enforcement-diligence2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZWhy a strong judgment is worth nothing without a realistic path to collecting it, and what funders check before committing capital.Cross-Border Judgment Recognition and Enforcement Financehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/cross-border-judgment-recognition-and-enforcement-finance2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow a US judgment gets recognized abroad, why the process differs from arbitral award enforcement, and where the Hague Judgments Convention fits.Data Breach Class Action Funding: Standing, Damages, and Settlement Dynamicshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/data-breach-class-action-funding2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow funders evaluate consumer data breach litigation, including the standing doctrine that determines whether many of these cases survive at all.Defense-Side Litigation Funding: How It Actually Workshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/defense-side-litigation-funding2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZWhy financing a defendant is structurally harder than financing a claimant, and the arrangements that have emerged to do it anyway.Duration Risk as the Dominant Return Driverhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/duration-risk-dominant-return-driver2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZWhy how long a case takes matters more to a funder's return than almost any other variable, and how that shapes underwriting.Financing Expert Witness and E-Discovery Costs in Large Litigationhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/expert-witness-and-ediscovery-cost-financing2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZWhy these two cost categories dominate the budget of document-intensive litigation, and how funding sized specifically to them works.Where Federal Courts Currently Require Litigation Funding Disclosurehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/federal-local-rules-litigation-funding-disclosure-map2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZA rule-by-rule look at the specific local rules and standing orders that require disclosing a third-party funder, and what each one actually demands.What a Funder's Term Sheet Says — and What It Meanshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/funder-term-sheet-what-it-means2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZA walk through the provisions that actually matter in a litigation finance term sheet, beyond the headline multiple.How Funders Underwrite a Law Firm's Entire Dockethttps://critericacapital.com/resources/how-funders-underwrite-a-law-firm-docket2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZWhy evaluating a firm-level facility is a different exercise than underwriting any single case, and what a funder actually reviews.Insurance Subrogation and Recovery Financehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/insurance-subrogation-and-recovery-finance2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow insurers' subrogation claims work, and how funders support their pursuit as a distinct commercial asset class.Insurance-Wrapped Litigation Finance Structureshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/insurance-wrapped-litigation-finance-structures2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow judgment preservation insurance and ATE coverage combine with funding capital to manage distinct layers of litigation risk.IOLTA and Litigation Funding Proceeds: How Trust Accounting Rules Applyhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/iolta-and-litigation-funding-proceeds2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow funding disbursements and repayments move through an attorney trust account, and the professional-responsibility rules that govern that flow.Financing Judgment Enforcement: Asset Tracing and Cross-Border Collectionhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/judgment-enforcement-and-asset-tracing-finance2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow capital is deployed specifically to enforce a judgment already won, when winning the case turns out to be only half the problem.Financing Partner Buyouts and Succession at Contingency Fee Firmshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/law-firm-partner-buyout-and-succession-capital2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow firms use outside capital to fund a retiring partner's buyout or a generational transition without disrupting the docket.Medical Lien Negotiation and Reduction: What the Law Actually Requireshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/medical-lien-negotiation-and-reduction2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZThe statutory and case law framework governing how much of a settlement a medical lienholder can actually claim, and where negotiation has real leverage.NAV Lending Against Seasoned Legal Portfolioshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/nav-lending-seasoned-legal-portfolios2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow lenders value a book of settled-but-unpaid judgments and late-stage cases, and what limits the advance rate.Covenants and Reporting in Portfolio Financehttps://critericacapital.com/resources/portfolio-finance-covenants-and-reporting2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZThe ongoing obligations that keep a portfolio facility aligned with the actual state of the docket it is secured against.How a Portfolio Finance Waterfall Actually Workshttps://critericacapital.com/resources/portfolio-finance-waterfall-mechanics2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZThe order in which proceeds from a diversified case portfolio are applied as individual matters resolve, and why that order matters to every party.Qualified Settlement Funds and Mass Tort Settlement Administrationhttps://critericacapital.com/resources/qualified-settlement-funds-and-mass-tort-administration2026-09-01T12:00:00Z2026-09-01T12:00:00ZHow a QSF, a special master, and a points-based allocation grid actually move a global mass tort settlement from agreement to individual payment.