Litigation Funding Class Suit Claiming Usury Shut Down

Litigation financing company Oasis Legal Finance LLC isn’t answerable under Georgia’s usury laws for allegedly steep repayment terms on money it advanced to former personal-injury plaintiffs, a federal court concluded reluctantly.

The Georgia Supreme Court recently held that similar agreements in another case weren’t “loans,” the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia said Jan. 24.

That holding binds federal courts applying Georgia law, even though “the Georgia Supreme Court may have abdicated” its responsibility to the public, Judge Dudley H. Bowen said.

The plaintiffs allege they each received amounts less than $3,000 for personal expenses while their ...