Can I Get a Cash Advance on My Lawsuit in Nebraska?

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

Who qualifies under the Nebraska act

Under 25-3302, a consumer is “a person residing or domiciled in Nebraska or who elects to enter into a transaction under the act,” who has a pending legal claim and an attorney when the funding is made. Nonrecourse civil litigation funding is “a transaction in which a civil litigation funding company purchases and a consumer assigns the contingent right to receive” an amount of the potential proceeds of a settlement, judgment, award or verdict, and the company is paid only from what you recover.

The required contract terms

Section 25-3303 requires a completely filled-in contract with these front-page disclosures in at least 12-point bold type:

• the total dollar amount funded to you;
• each one-time fee, itemized;
• the total you would repay, including all fees, at six-month intervals over 36 months;
• the total broker fees in the deal;
• the annual percentage rate of return as of the end of each six-month interval, including how often it compounds.

The contract must also contain a notice beginning “CONSUMER’S RIGHT TO CANCELLATION:”. You may cancel within five business days after receiving the funds, without penalty, by returning the full amount: hand-deliver the company’s uncashed check to its office, or mail a cancellation notice with the uncashed check, a registered or certified check or a money order by insured, registered or certified mail, postmarked within the five business days.

Three more statements are required. One, in at least 12-point bold, begins “THE CIVIL LITIGATION FUNDING COMPANY AGREES THAT IT SHALL HAVE NO RIGHT TO” make any decision about your claim or settlement, which stay with you and your lawyer. Another, directly above your signature, warns you not to sign before reading the contract or if it has blank spaces, advises you to get a lawyer’s advice and to consider a tax, benefit planning or financial professional, and records that your claim lawyer gave no such advice on the funding. The third is a box in bold 15-point capitals beginning “IF THERE IS NO RECOVERY OF ANY MONEY FROM YOUR LEGAL CLAIM,” which says you owe nothing beyond what you recover unless you violated the contract. You must also acknowledge that you reviewed the whole contract. On the tax side, see is a lawsuit advance taxable.

Your lawyer’s acknowledgment

Your lawyer must sign a statement that the lawyer reviewed the contract and that all costs and fees, including the annualized rate of return, were disclosed; is paid on contingency under a written fee agreement; will disburse all proceeds through the lawyer’s trust account or a settlement fund; is following your written instructions on the funding; has not been paid or offered referral fees; and states “whether” the lawyer has a financial interest in the funding company. If a dispute later arises over the contract, the lawyer’s responsibilities are no greater than those under the Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct. The section-wide comparison is in does my lawyer have to sign a funding contract.

Communications between your lawyer and the funding company do not “limit, waive, or abrogate” the attorney-client privilege or the work-product doctrine (25-3306); more in lawsuit funding and attorney-client privilege.

Nebraska lawyers cannot advance living expenses themselves. Neb. Ct. R. of Prof. Cond. 3-501.8(e) bars financial assistance to a client in pending or contemplated litigation, except advancing court costs and litigation expenses, with repayment that may depend on the outcome, and paying those costs for an indigent client.

Fees and the 36-month stop

The act does not set a maximum rate. Section 25-3305 says a company “may not assess fees for any period exceeding thirty-six months from the date of the contract with the consumer.” Fees “shall compound at least semiannually but shall not compound based on any lesser time period,” and the annual percentage fee or rate of return must include all charges you pay directly or indirectly and be computed only on money you actually received and kept.

Example only: if you sign on March 1, 2027, fees can build in six-month steps until March 1, 2030 and not for any later period. A case that pays in 2031 should owe no more than the 36-month repayment figure on the front page. The contract’s own numbers decide the amounts.

What companies may not do, and who oversees them

Section 25-3304 bars a company from paying or accepting referral payments involving attorneys, law firm staff or medical providers; from advertising “false or intentionally misleading information”; and from knowingly funding you after you assigned part of your proceeds to another company, unless it pays that company’s full balance or everyone agrees otherwise in writing.

A company may not do this business until it registers with the Secretary of State (25-3307). The Secretary must request proof of a surety bond or letter of credit “equal to double the amount of the largest funding in the past calendar year or fifty thousand dollars, whichever is greater.” Under 25-3309, the Secretary may refuse, suspend, revoke or decline to renew a registration, including for a violation of 25-3304, after notice and a hearing under the Administrative Procedure Act. Registered companies report yearly on their fundings and fees, and the Secretary summarizes that data for the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. Enforcement under the act is administrative; it does not list a separate penalty paid to consumers.

The Secretary of State’s civil litigation funding page posts the roster of registered companies and lists the licensing office at (402) 471-8606, P.O. Box 94608, Lincoln, NE 68509-4608. For a consumer complaint, the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division offers an online complaint form and ago.consumer@nebraska.gov; its site lists the office at (402) 471-2785.

For timing, Neb. Rev. Stat. 25-207 says “an action for an injury to the rights of the plaintiff, not arising on contract,” can only be brought within four years. Other Nebraska statutes set different deadlines for some claims, so check yours with a Nebraska lawyer.

What to ask before you sign

• Are you on the Nebraska Secretary of State’s roster?
• What is the annual rate of return at each six-month step, and what will I owe at 36 months?
• Are any broker fees included, and who receives them?
• Has my lawyer signed the acknowledgment, including the financial-interest line?
• When is the last day my cancellation can be postmarked?

Our contract red flags list, the state law table and the lawsuit cash advance guide have more.

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.