Is lawsuit funding legal in Illinois?
Yes, but not from us. Illinois: license required — SB 1099 / 815 ILCS 121 — licensed by IDFPR. Get Lit Money does not fund in Illinois.
What you can do in Illinois instead
Illinois requires a license from the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. We do not hold one, so we cannot fund here. Licensed funders can, and the license is checkable — ask for the number and look it up.
The statute
License required. SB 1099 / 815 ILCS 121 — licensed by IDFPR. We do not hold the license or registration Illinois requires, and we do not fund in states where our published rate would have to carry a qualifier. A narrower map buys an unqualified promise everywhere else, and we think that is the right trade.
Why this changed recently
The map moved materially in 2026. North Carolina became the first state to ban third-party litigation financing outright, under HB 315, effective June 22, 2026. New York’s Consumer Litigation Funding Act took effect on June 17, 2026. Georgia began requiring NMLS registration on January 1, 2026, and made larger funding agreements discoverable in civil cases.
If you are reading an article about funding law written before 2026, assume it is out of date. This area is moving quickly and three material changes landed in the first half of the year alone.
Illinois claim deadlines
The personal injury filing deadline in Illinois is 2 years from the date of injury in most cases. Missing it bars the claim permanently, however strong it is.
Workers’ compensation runs on a separate clock. Notify your employer within 45 days and file the claim within 3 years.
Claims against government entities usually require a formal notice of claim far sooner — often 30 to 180 days — and missing that bars the claim even though the ordinary deadline has years left. More on notice of claim.
If you were partly at fault
Illinois applies modified comparative negligence — 51% bar. You can recover as long as you were not more than 50% at fault. Your award is reduced by your share of the blame. How comparative negligence works.
Is an advance a loan in Illinois?
A genuine pre-settlement advance is non-recourse: it is repaid only from a recovery, and if the case does not recover there is nothing to repay. That is the distinction most state statutes turn on, and it is why the map looks so uneven — where a court treats an advance as a loan, state lending and usury rules apply, which is the basis on which Colorado and Maryland regulate these products as consumer loans. More on usury and funding.
This page summarizes publicly reported legislation and published statutory summaries. It is not legal advice and it is not a compliance opinion. Your attorney is the right person to ask about your case.
We can't fund in Illinois — but the law page is here for a reason.
If your case moves to a state we serve, or you are reading this for a client elsewhere, the rest of the site applies. We would rather tell you plainly than take your details.