This May Not be the News You Want But Bringing a Lawsuit Just Got Easier An insurance startup has a new policy that will cover the costs of bringing a case that you lose.
By Peter Page
There is some bad news for people who fret our society is excessively litigious. A startup in the normally stuffy insurance industry has just made bringing a lawsuit less risky.
Level Insurance ( as in "level playing field''), founded by trial attorneys and law partners Larry Bassuk and Justin Leto of Miami, Florida, now offers a Litigation Cost Protection' policy that will pay some of the crushing costs of bringing a losing lawsuit. The policies reimburse out-of-pocket costs, other than attorney fees, up to $250,000 for essentials like expert witnesses, travel, e-discovery, court reporters, trial exhibits, courtroom technology, exhibits and on and on and on. Even if you have never heard the term "forensic accountant'' you know you can't hire one cheap.
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"For a small business, they face tremendous costs,'' Bassuk said. The cost protection policies cost a flat 7 percent of the policy maximum.
The United States is all-but-unique in the world for allowing "contingency fees,'' an arrangement that allows a person or company bringing a lawsuit to pay their attorney a portion of the settlement -- usually one-third -- if they win the case and owe nothing if they lose. While often criticized for encouraging litigation, contingency fees have allowed people of modest means to bring lawsuits against deep-pocketed corporations, perhaps most famously the asbestos and tobacco industries.
Bassuk said the cost protection policies have found a market with plaintiff attorneys who want to minimize the risk of losing out on expenses (as well as their own fees) if they bring a contingency case and lose.
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"The ultimate underdog scenario is an individual who doesn't have the capital to bring suit against a large corporation, they need a lawyer to bring the case on a contingency basis,'' Bassuk said. "Day to day, lawyers doing contingency work who get an expensive case to prosecute want to spread the downside risk if the case lose.''
