Wisconsin Lawyer
Vol. 79, No. 7, July
2006
Letters
Letters to the
editor: The Wisconsin Lawyer publishes as many letters in each
issue as space permits. Please limit letters to 500 words; letters may
be edited for length and clarity. Letters should address the issues, and
not be a personal attack on others. Letters endorsing political
candidates cannot be accepted. Please mail letters to "Letters to the
Editor," Wisconsin Lawyer, P.O. Box 7158, Madison, WI 53707-7158, fax
them to (608) 257-4343, or email them.
Presettlement Funding for Clients
I was pleased to see a substantial article in the May
Wisconsin
Lawyer addressing the issues involved with the rapidly growing
business of presettlement funding. I applaud Dean Dietrich for his usual
thorough and insightful evaluation of the issues. However, I believe
there is an elephant in the living room that needs to be addressed. It
is well known and obvious to all of us that attorneys cannot make cash
advances to clients on pending personal injury claims. Presumably the
chief rationale behind this is to prohibit a situation where all
clients, or potential clients, would become free agents open to the
highest cash bidder. It is my opinion, and so far part of my experience,
that unregulated presettlement finance companies can just as effectively
turn clients into free agents for the highest cash bidder. I have
already lost clients because another lawyer did a better job of
"facilitating" a cash advance through one of these companies.
While there are obvious differences between attorney cash advances,
which are prohibited, and the increasingly thriving industry of
presettlement financing, which is not, the latter is an ethical
minefield on the landscape.
This business has gone beyond the cottage industry phase to Wall
Street investment status. It's here and it's here to stay. Most of the
companies are working with each other and attorneys to develop
appropriate rules and regulations. Wisconsin lawyers need to work with
each other and these enterprises to assure that the enormous help they
can provide our clients is not undermined by abuses.
Robert A. Figg
Milwaukee
Unleashed: Wisconsin's Dog Statute
I very much enjoyed the June article on Wisconsin's dog statute. It was
well-written, informative, and timely. I have a demand out on a case
wherein an unleashed dog ran out into the highway and caused my client
to lay down his motorcycle and severely injure himself. This article
gave me a tremendous overview on the state of the law should I have to
put the case into suit. Great job and thanks!
Anthony J. Skemp
Milwaukee
Wisconsin Lawyer
