encourage clients to use these legal funding company’s for loans, as such agreements can swallow up the entire proceeds of a settlement or verdict.
   
In the Odell case, the plaintiff’s personal injury claim settled for $18,000.00. Pursuant to their Agreement, Plaintiff owed Legal Bucks $9,582.00 at the time her claim settled.  However, in a September 2nd opinion, the North Carolina Court of Appeals held Legal Bucks committed unfair and deceptive trade practices as a matter of law.  The Court wrote that Legal Bucks did not inform Plaintiff that she was executing a contract that violated the Consumer Finance Act.  The North Carolina Court of Appeals found the Agreement to be invalid and unenforceable.  Herndon Reston injury lawyer Doug Landau warns injured claimants and their families to consider other forms of financing while their claims are pending, as the interest charged by some “legal advance” companies may double or triple the amount owed and leave them with little or nothing to left at the end of the case.