New York Consolidated Laws, Financial Services Law - FIS § 1001. Definitions

(a) “Advertise” means publishing or disseminating any written, oral, electronic or printed communication or any communication by means of recorded telephone messages or transmitted or broadcast on radio, television, the internet or similar communications media, including audio recordings, film strips, motion pictures and videos, published, disseminated, circulated or placed before the public, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of inducing a consumer to enter into a litigation funding contract.

(b) “Charges” means anything to be paid to a litigation funding company by or on behalf of a consumer pursuant to a litigation funding contract.  Charges includes all administrative, origination, underwriting or other fees, including interest and payment of the funded amount, no matter how denominated.

(c) “Funding litigation” or “to fund litigation” means providing no more than five hundred thousand dollars to a consumer in exchange for the consumer's agreement to pay the litigation funding company from the potential proceeds of any settlement, judgment, award or verdict that may be paid to resolve that consumer's legal claim.

(d) “Litigation funding contract” or “contract” means an agreement between a litigation funding company and a consumer to fund litigation.

(e) “Litigation funding company” or “company” means a person or entity that is engaged in the business of funding litigation.  This term shall not include an immediate family member of the consumer or an attorney representing a consumer on a contingency basis that is not a litigation funding company on the basis of such representation.

(f) “Consumer” means a natural person who has a legal claim and who resides or is domiciled in New York state and the claim is or will be filed in a New York state or federal court.

(g) “Funded amount” means the amount of monies provided to, or on behalf of, a consumer pursuant to a litigation funding contract.

(h) “Funding date” means the date on which the funded amount is transferred to the consumer by the litigation funding company.

(i) “Immediate family member” means a parent;  sibling;  child by blood, adoption, or marriage;  spouse;  grandparent;  or grandchild.

(j) “Legal claim” means a civil claim or cause of action.