[justboxing]

What's in this for Legalist?

From their home page:

> All legal bills covered.

> Litigation is expensive. Whether it’s attorney’s fees or that expert witness report you need to prove damages, litigation costs can add up. When you’re backed by Legalist, you don’t have to worry about unexpected legal expenses. Focus on growing your business, and we’ll take care of it.

I'm always skeptical of assurances like this.

[evashang]

Litigation finance is like a contingency arrangement - if you file the case and the judge dismisses it, there's no risk to you. But if you do file the case and win $1000, we'll recover alongside you.

[spinlock]

FYI - when you dodge the question this way, you look as bad as equifax. What is in it for you? Do you take a percentage of the judgement?

I'll probably end up paying a lawyer to advise me on the best way to get back at Equifax. But, I'm not going to do business with you because you're shady and won't disclose your interest in this case.

[mikestew]

What is in it for you? Do you take a percentage of the judgement?

Just because you don't know how lawyerin' works is no excuse to be insulting. They take a contingency, like every other friggin' lawyer on the planet. (No financial interest, don't know the founders from Adam, yada, yada)

[spinlock]

Con-artists are the only people who want you to think that it's insulting to ask them how they are compensated. I've worked with plenty of lawyers over the years and none of the ethical ones have ever balked at explaining their fee structure.

The class against Equifax is huge and you should absolutely be aware that less than ethical lawyers are going to come out of the woodwork making all sorts of promises so that they can get their slice of what Equifax is going to pay out. The lawyers that I want to work with will either charge me an hourly fee or they will be upfront that my involvement in a class means that I'll be helping to punish Equifax but that I'll be forgoing most damages to do so.

[B1FF_PSUVM]

> take a contingency, like every other friggin' lawyer on the planet.

Actually, there are countries where lawyers don't (and legally can not) take contingency fees.

Not allowed to advertise, either.

[mikestew]

Admittedly that is a U. S.-centric viewpoint incorrectly extrapolated to the world. I'm calling"literary license". Thanks for the correction.

[evashang]

Hey! As you'll find on our website, we take a third of the judgment as a contingency stake, as per our usual practice.

[jellicle]

It doesn't say that anywhere on the website. The language used is specifically vague to accommodate a wide range of fee percentages.

"Legalist funding varies from case to case, depending on your case details and our risk assessment outputs. Apply now to get a rate!"

[spinlock]

Do you have a link? I looked over your website and I found no information about you fees.

[i_cant_speel]

He did answer your question.

"But if you do file the case and win $1000, we'll recover alongside you"

[spinlock]

That really doesn't answer my question. If I win $1000, how much do I then owe? I'm cool with not recovering anything but I don't even know if my liability is capped at the judgement against Equifax.

It's funny how many people are upset by my comment. The only thing I can say is that, when I hire a lawyer, the point is to have them clarify the law for me and translate it into plain english. If a lawyer won't even put their own fees into plain english, I don't believe they are working for me so I won't hire them.

[traek]

She* [0]

[0] https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshang/

[i_cant_speel]

Oops. I thought about that after I submitted the comment, but the app I was using doesn't give me the option to edit the comment.

[asn0]

From their FAQ[1] looks like they take a cut of winnings:

> Only if you win your case is repayment deducted from your recovery. Legalist funding varies from case to case, depending on your case details and our risk assessment outputs.

1. https://www.legalist.com/faqs/

Edit: formatting

[sodafountan]

You only pay if you win the case is what I gather from the site, they're confidant enough that you'll win in a small claims suit against Equifax while at the same time advertising their services.

[LusoTycoon]

If the class law suit wins, they get their share. And it already seems certain to win by now, I imagine.

[evashang]

Just a clarification - while there are multiple class action lawsuits against Equifax, Legalist is funding individual consumers to take action in small claims court. It's faster and you're likely to recover more.

[sodafountan]

It's also harder to litigate on Equifax's part. Often times they just attempt to settle

[evashang]

Absolutely! The only authorized representatives are company officers or lawyers, and many small claims courts don't allow lawyers. So unless the CEO of Equifax attends every court hearing in the country, or unless the judge allows them to move it out of small claims court, you're likely to recover. (not a lawyer, not legal advice)

[logfromblammo]

Varies by state. Some states will allow an ordinary employee of the company to appear.

My jurisdiction limits claims to $6000 and allows attorneys.

[kd0amg]

unless the judge allows them to move it out of small claims court

How common is this?

[imglorp]

Furthermore, can the court compel some kind of class-action suit if it realizes there's a small claims backlog of thousands of plaintiffs against the same defendant for the same issue? This thing could clog all the SC courts in the country if all 100mm people file like this.

[xie_alan]

From what I've read on some law blogs, this doesn't happen often at all, and were it to happen, it would also mean that there's no reason for Equifax not to also deal with these cases in a class action.