Can You Get Lawsuit Funding on a Product Liability Case?

By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

Strict liability, state by state

Product cases start from a rule that California wrote first. In 1963 the California Supreme Court held that “A manufacturer is strictly liable in tort when an article he places on the market,” knowing it will be used without inspection, “proves to have a defect that causes injury to a human being,” and that the injured man did not need to prove an express warranty (Greenman v. Yuba Power Products). A year later the court held that “Retailers like manufacturers are engaged in the business of distributing goods to the public” and are strictly liable for defects in what they sell (Vandermark v. Ford Motor Co.).

Other states follow their own statutes and cases. Which defendants can be held liable matters to a funder because each one may bring its own insurer and its own schedule.

Why product cases run long

Proving that a product was defective usually takes testing and testimony from engineers or other retained witnesses. Texas puts that burden in its statute. In a design claim the claimant must prove “by a preponderance of the evidence” that “there was a safer alternative design,” one that would have prevented or significantly reduced the risk of injury without substantially impairing the product’s utility, and that “was economically and technologically feasible” when the product left the manufacturer’s or seller’s control (Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code 82.005).

In federal court, a party offering expert testimony must show the judge “that it is more likely than not” that the testimony meets the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Defendants can challenge those witnesses before trial, and the judge’s ruling can decide whether the claim survives. Each of these steps adds months.

The product itself is also evidence. If it still exists, keep it unrepaired and tell your lawyer where it is. Anyone valuing the claim, a funder included, will want to know whether it can be inspected. In Texas, an innocent retailer’s right to indemnity from the manufacturer can also produce a second fight between defendants before anyone talks about paying you.

Deadlines, including one that can run before you are hurt

The usual injury deadline is two years in California (CCP 335.1) and Texas (CPRC 16.003). Product cases add other limits:

• Texas has a statute of repose. A products liability action against a manufacturer or seller must begin “before the end of 15 years after the date of the sale of the product by the defendant,” with exceptions, including one for some latent diseases whose symptoms did not appear within that period (CPRC 16.012).
• Washington allows three years from when the claimant discovered, or should have discovered, “the harm and its cause.” If the harm came more than twelve years after delivery, the law presumes the product’s useful safe life had expired, and that presumption can be rebutted only by a preponderance of the evidence (RCW 7.72.060).

An older product near one of these limits carries more risk of dismissal. Most advances are non-recourse, so a dismissal would normally mean you owe nothing, but contracts can carve out exceptions; see what happens if you lose your case.

When your case joins an MDL

Claims over the same drug, medical device or consumer product are often filed by many people at once. In federal court the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation can send cases that share questions of fact to one judge for coordinated pretrial work (28 U.S.C. 1407). Your claim stays your own, but its timing then follows the whole group. Settlement programs, claims administrators and anti-assignment clauses are covered on our mass tort and class action page.

What time does to the payoff

California’s funding law requires the amount owed to be set by time intervals from the funding date, and it limits charges to 36 months from that date (Bus. & Prof. Code 6250(a), 6253). Many other states have no such limit; check the laws by state table.

Example only, with round hypothetical numbers: a $5,000 advance under a contract that adds a flat $1,000 every six months would show a payoff of $9,000 at 24 months. At 48 months the same contract would reach $13,000, unless a law like California’s stops the charges at 36 months, which would hold it at $11,000. Your own contract terms decide the real figures. Our page on what pre-settlement funding costs explains the common pricing methods, and how much of a $100,000 settlement you keep shows the subtractions that come first.

What to ask before you sign

• Has the product been preserved, and who has it now?
• Which companies are named, from the maker of the finished product to the makers of parts and the store that sold it?
• Has the case been sent to an MDL, and what stage is it in?
• Is a Texas repose period or a Washington useful-safe-life presumption in play?
• What will I owe at 12, 24, 36 and 48 months?
• Does the contract reach money from every defendant, including a later settlement with a parts maker?

Common questions

Related pages

Cash advance on a lawsuit · Laws by state · Injury law FAQs

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.