Hair Relaxer

The Hair Relaxer litigation, centralized before Judge Mary M. Rowland in the Northern District of Illinois in February 2023, consolidates claims that chemical hair-straightening products caused uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, and related gynecological injuries in long-term users, disproportionately affecting Black women who used these products most heavily. With 12,129 actions pending out of roughly 16,561 total filed, this is one of the largest active mass torts in the federal system by volume, and its scale is itself a central fact for any funder or law-firm capital desk evaluating exposure to this docket.

The docket's procedural posture as of 2026 is squarely pre-bellwether: the court selected 32 initial bellwether discovery cases in mid-2025, fact discovery on that pool is scheduled to close in February 2026, and the court plans to narrow to three trial-preparation cases shortly after, with additional discovery and Daubert practice not expected to conclude until early 2027. That means no jury has yet weighed in on general causation in this MDL, and no global settlement framework exists. For funding purposes, that translates into real duration risk: a claim funded today should be underwritten against a multi-year horizon to first verdict, not against an assumption of near-term resolution.

Given the docket's scale, portfolio finance is a particularly relevant structure for firms holding meaningful hair-relaxer inventory — diversification across thousands of claims allows a lender to underwrite the book's aggregate characteristics (usage duration, product brand, diagnosis type and stage) rather than any single claim's individual causation risk. Medical-lien exposure is significant here given the oncology treatment histories involved, including surgery, chemotherapy, and ongoing surveillance, and lien-stack sizing should be a standard part of structuring any advance. Criterica Capital's mass tort finance product, together with portfolio finance structures for firms with larger books, is the relevant path for this litigation, and a structural brief tracking the bellwether calendar is available through Criterica Intelligence.

Pre-settlement funding is a non-recourse purchase of a portion of the proceeds of a pending legal claim — not a loan. If the case does not result in a recovery, nothing is owed. Rates, fees, and repayment terms are disclosed in full in the funding agreement, which the applicant’s attorney reviews before signing. Availability and terms vary by state.