Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (SB 69)

Legal cases can take months or even years to resolve, and many plaintiffs rely on pre-settlement funding to cover expenses while they wait. The Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (SB 69) establishes the rules for how this type of lawsuit funding operates in Georgia, including key protections for consumers and limits on funding companies.

What is the Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act?

The Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (Senate Bill 69) is a 2025 Georgia law that regulates third-party litigation financing — arrangements where companies fund lawsuits in exchange for a share of any recovery. It requires financiers to register with the state, mandates consumer disclosures and a five-day cancellation right, bans foreign adversary involvement, and makes pre-settlement funding agreements discoverable in civil cases.

Is Lawsuit Funding Legal in Georgia?

Yes, lawsuit funding is legal in Georgia. The Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (Senate Bill 69) formally recognizes and regulates the industry. 

Key Facts:

• Signed into law: April 21, 2025
• Effective date: January 1, 2026 (most provisions)
• Regulates: Litigation funding companies
• Key feature: Consumer protections + registration requirement
• Applies to: Civil cases in Georgia

A Plain-Language Guide to Senate Bill 69 (As Passed)

Citation: Georgia Senate Bill 69 (SB 69/AP, 2025–2026 Regular Session) | Codified at O.C.G.A. Title 7, Chapter 10 (§§ 7-10-1 through 7-10-11); O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26(b)(2.1); and O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76.1 Signed by Governor: April 21, 2025

Effective Dates:

• April 21, 2025: Discovery provisions (Section 3) and seat belt evidence provisions (Section 4) take effect immediately upon signing, applying to civil actions and contracts on or after that date.
• January 1, 2026: All litigation financing registration, registration denial, prohibition, liability, contract, exemption, penalty, and multistate licensing provisions (Sections 1–2) take effect.

What Is This Law and Why Does It Matter?

The Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act brings formal oversight to lawsuit funding in Georgia. Signed into law on April 21, 2025, and fully effective January 1, 2026, it sets rules for how litigation funding companies can operate, what disclosures they must provide, and what protections consumers receive.

The law also gives the state power to deny registration to certain applicants, bars funding tied to designated foreign adversaries, and makes some funding agreements discoverable in civil cases. In a separate provision, it also changes how seat belt non-use may be used as evidence in civil actions.

This guide explains the law in plain language so consumers, attorneys, and Georgia residents can better understand its practical impact.

Part I: Key Definitions (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-1)

Understanding Georgia’s litigation funding law starts with understanding its core terms.

• Consumer: A person who lives in Georgia, is present in Georgia, or has a legal claim in Georgia. In simple terms, if you are pursuing a claim in Georgia, you likely count as a consumer under this law.
• Litigation Financier: A person or company in the business of providing lawsuit funding in exchange for payment or a share of the recovery.
• Litigation Financing Agreement: An arrangement where a funder gives money to a consumer, claimant, or their lawyer in exchange for payment that depends on the outcome of the case. This also includes some portfolio funding arrangements involving multiple related cases.
• Litigation Financing Contract: The written agreement that sets out the terms of a litigation financing deal. Under this law, every litigation financing agreement must be in writing.

What is NOT a Litigation Financing Agreement in Georgia:  

The law explicitly excludes the following from its scope:

• A standard contingency fee arrangement between an attorney and client, or an attorney advancing client legal costs, consistent with the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct.
• A pre-existing contractual obligation to indemnify or defend a party.
• A health insurer’s obligation to pay for healthcare under an insurance plan.
• A traditional loan from a financial institution where repayment is NOT contingent on the outcome of the case or any related portfolio matter.
• Funding provided to a nonprofit organization funded by private donations that represents clients on a pro-bono, no-cost basis and seeks only injunctive relief.
• Banks, institutional investors, and persons that provide financing to a litigation financier but do not themselves engage in the business of litigation financing — unless such banks, institutional investors, or persons are affiliated with a litigation financier.

Part II: Registration Requirements (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-2)

The Basic Rule

It is unlawful for any person or entity to engage in litigation financing in Georgia unless they are registered as a litigation financier with the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Operating without registration is a criminal offense.

Funding companies must submit identifying information, ownership details, and disclosures about foreign affiliations.

Part III: Denial of Registration (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-3)

The As Passed version adds an entirely new section giving the Department authority to deny registration or deny an amended registration in certain circumstances. This section provides both the grounds for denial and the procedural rights available to applicants.

Grounds for Denial

Registration may be denied if requirements are not met or if key individuals have recent felony convictions.

Notice Requirements

If the Department intends to deny a registration or amended registration, it must provide written notice to the applicant or registrant, sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to their principal place of business. 

Right to Appeal

Applicants can challenge denials through administrative hearings.

Part IV: What Litigation Financiers Are Prohibited From Doing (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-4)

This section is at the heart of the law’s consumer protections. A litigation financier is expressly prohibited from doing all of the following:

• Controlling Your Case. A litigation financier may not direct or make any decisions about the course of your civil action, administrative proceeding, or legal claim — including decisions about selecting or changing your attorney, choosing expert witnesses, setting litigation strategy, or deciding whether and how to settle. 
• Paying Referral Fees to Attorneys. A litigation financier may not pay or offer commissions, referral fees, rebates, or any other form of consideration to any attorney, law firm employee, or other person in exchange for referring a consumer or their legal representative to the financier. Note: This prohibition does not apply to an employee, agent, or affiliate of the litigation financier itself.
• Accepting Kickbacks. A litigation financier may not accept commissions, referral fees, rebates, or any other forms of consideration from any attorney, law firm employee, or other person in exchange for goods or services provided to the consumer. Note: This prohibition does not apply to an employee, agent, or affiliate of the litigation financier itself.
• Recovering More Than Your Net Proceeds. A litigation financier may not contract for, receive, or recover — directly or indirectly — any amount greater than the share of the proceeds collectively recovered by the plaintiffs or claimants in the financed action after the payment of attorney’s fees and costs. In other words, the financier’s recovery is capped at what remains of your recovery after your attorneys are paid.
• False or Misleading Advertising. A litigation financier may not advertise false or misleading information about its products or services.
• Steering You to Other Vendors. A litigation financier may not refer or require you to hire or engage any particular person to provide you with goods or services.
• Withholding Your Contract. A litigation financier must promptly deliver a fully completed and signed copy of the litigation financing contract to both you and your legal representative. Failure to do so is prohibited.
• Waiving Your Legal Rights. A litigation financier may not attempt to secure a remedy or obtain your waiver of any remedy — including compensatory, statutory, or punitive damages — that you may be entitled to pursue.
• Giving Legal Advice. A litigation financier may not offer or provide legal advice to you.
• Transferring a legal funding agreement. Funding companies are generally not allowed to transfer a litigation financing agreement.
• Damaging Your Credit. A litigation financier may not report you to a credit reporting agency if there are insufficient funds from your recovery to repay the financier in full. If your case doesn’t produce enough money to fully repay the financier, that shortfall cannot be used to harm your credit.

No Financial Interest for Related Service Providers

Separately, no person who provides any goods or renders any services related to the litigation to a consumer may have a financial interest in litigation financing provided to that consumer, and may not receive commissions, referral fees, rebates, or any other consideration from any litigation financier or its agents, employees, owners, or affiliates. 

This prevents intertwined financial relationships that could compromise the independence of your advisors.

Part V: Financier Liability and Indemnification (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-5)

Joint and Several Liability for Frivolous Litigation Sanctions

A litigation financier that agrees to provide $25,000 or more in funding pursuant to a litigation financing agreement may be jointly and severally liable for any award or order imposing or assessing costs or monetary sanctions for frivolous litigation against a consumer, entity, or legal representative of such consumer or entity arising from or relating to the funded civil action, administrative proceeding, or legal claim.

There is an important cap: where the litigation financier’s right of repayment is a fixed amount set by contract, the liability of the litigation financier shall not exceed the right of repayment less the amount already extended. This means a financier’s liability exposure for sanctions is bounded by what it had contractually agreed to fund, minus what has already been disbursed.

Mandatory Indemnification

In every litigation financing contract, the litigation financier must agree to indemnify — and must indemnify even if no such agreement is expressly written into the contract — the plaintiffs and claimants and their legal representatives against any adverse costs, attorney’s fees, damages, or sanctions that may be ordered or awarded against them in the funded action.

There is one exception: indemnification is not required for costs, fees, damages, or sanctions that the litigation financier can show resulted from the intentional misconduct of the plaintiffs or claimants or their legal representatives.

Part VI: Contract Requirements and Your Rights as a Consumer (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-6)

The Written Contract Requirement

Every litigation financing agreement must be documented in a fully completed, written litigation financing contract with no material terms or conditions omitted. The contract must contain all material terms at the time it is signed by any party, including — but not limited to — the right to cancel the litigation financing agreement without penalty or further obligation within five business days from the date the contract is executed by or on behalf of the consumer, or the date litigation financing is received from the financier, whichever date is later.

A litigation financier may not amend the terms of the contract after execution without full disclosure and prior written consent of all parties.

Required Disclosures Must Be Prominently Displayed

Every litigation financing contract with a consumer must include the litigation financier’s name, principal business address, and preferred mailing address on the first page. Immediately above the consumer’s signature line, the following disclosures must appear in at least 14-point bold font.

Required Disclosures Include:

• 5-day cancellation right
• No control over your case
• No repayment beyond recovery
• Freedom to change attorneys

Who Can Sign the Contract

Only you, the consumer, may sign the litigation financing contract on your own behalf (unless you lack the legal capacity to do so). Your attorney — the legal representative in your civil action — may not sign a litigation financing contract on your behalf. Any contract signed by your attorney on your behalf is void and unenforceable as a matter of law.

Your Attorney’s Obligations

If you are represented by a legal representative in the civil action covered by the financing agreement, that attorney must acknowledge in the litigation financing contract that neither the attorney, nor the attorney’s employer, nor the attorney’s employees have received or paid any commission, referral fee, rebate, or any other consideration from or to the litigation financier, and that no such obligation exists going forward.

When Your Attorney Has Their Own Funding Agreement

If your legal representative is also a party to a litigation financing agreement related to your case, the attorney must disclose this to you and deliver a copy of their own litigation financing contract to you.

You must then sign an acknowledgment that you have read and understood your attorney’s litigation financing contract. You are entitled to a copy of that signed acknowledgment.

Part VII: Exemptions (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-7)

The following are exempt from this law’s requirements:

Certain Nonprofit Organizations. A nonprofit entity that provides litigation financing, directly or indirectly, for the benefit of itself or one or more of its members, without receiving in return any payment of interest, fees, or other consideration, and without receiving any right to a share of any recovery (other than through in-house counsel of the nonprofit), is exempt.

Businesses Providing Interest-Free, Risk-Free Funding. Litigation financing provided by an entity engaged in commerce or business activity is exempt, provided that entity does not charge, contract for, collect, or receive any interest, fees, or other consideration; does not retain any financial interest in the outcome of the case; and does not retain any right to payment from the proceeds of any judgment, award, or settlement.

Lenders Making Non-Contingent Loans. A lender that does not receive, in consideration for loaning money to any person, any right to receive payment from the value of any proceeds realized from any judgment, award, settlement, verdict, or other form of monetary relief is exempt.

If repayment does not depend on the outcome of the case, it is a traditional loan — not litigation financing — and falls outside this law.

Part VIII: Effect of Violations on the Financing Agreement (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-8)

Any violation of this chapter by a litigation financier renders the litigation financing agreement void and unenforceable by the litigation financier and by any successor-in-interest to the litigation financing agreement. This is a powerful consumer protection: a financier who breaks the rules loses their right to collect anything under the agreement.

Part IX: Criminal Penalties (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-9)

It is unlawful for a litigation financier to enter into or offer to enter into a litigation financing agreement without being registered under this chapter.

A person who willfully violates this chapter is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, may be:

• Imprisoned for not less than one year and not more than five years; and/or
• Fined up to $10,000.

If the jury trying the case recommends it, and the presiding judge approves, the crime may be reduced to a misdemeanor. A judge may also reduce the felony to a misdemeanor when fixing the punishment.

The Commissioner may refer to the Attorney General or the proper prosecuting attorney the name of any person acting as a litigation financier without registration, or any applicant or registrant that is or may not be in compliance with this chapter.

However, the Attorney General or the proper prosecuting attorney may institute criminal proceedings with or without such a referral.

This chapter does not limit Georgia’s authority to prosecute any person for conduct that also constitutes a crime under other state laws.

Part X: Nation-Wide Multistate Licensing System (O.C.G.A. § 7-10-10)

This entirely new section — added in the As Passed version — authorizes the Department of Banking and Finance to participate in the nation-wide multistate licensing system and registry for litigation financiers. The Department is authorized to:

Part XI: Discovery of Litigation Financing in Civil Cases (O.C.G.A. § 9-11-26(b)(2.1))

Effective upon Governor Kemp’s signature (April 21, 2025), this law amends Georgia’s Civil Practice Act to create a new discovery rule:

Any party to a civil action may obtain discovery of the existence, terms, and conditions of any litigation financing agreement that covers the pending action.

However, the As Passed version adds an important limitation not found in the earlier enrolled text: this subparagraph does not apply to nonparties unless the litigation financing agreement is for $25,000.00 or more in funding. Agreements below that threshold are not discoverable from nonparties.

This means that opposing counsel — and the court — may learn that litigation financing exists, who is providing it, and what its terms are for covered agreements. This rule applies to civil actions commenced on or after the effective date and contracts entered into on or after the effective date.

The fact that a litigation financing agreement is discoverable does not automatically make it admissible as evidence at trial. However, the law makes clear that nothing in this provision limits the admissibility of such information as evidence of a party’s claim or defense.

Part XII: Seat Belt Evidence in Civil Actions (O.C.G.A. § 40-8-76.1)

Senate Bill 69 includes a provision unrelated to litigation financing that significantly changes Georgia’s evidentiary law regarding seat belt use. This provision became effective upon the Governor’s signature and applies only to causes of action commenced on or after that date.

Under the prior law, failure to wear a seat belt could not be used as evidence of negligence or to reduce a plaintiff’s recovery. The As Passed bill reverses that rule:

The failure of an occupant of a motor vehicle to wear a seat belt may now be considered in any civil action as evidence admissible on the issues of negligence, comparative negligence, causation, assumption of risk, or apportionment of fault, or for any other purpose, and may be used as evidence to diminish any recovery for damages arising out of the ownership, maintenance, occupancy, or operation of a motor vehicle.

This change does not prevent a court from determining the admissibility of such evidence under Code Section 24-4-403 or any other statutory or common law rule of evidence.

One protection remains unchanged: the failure to wear a seat belt may not be used as a basis for cancellation of insurance coverage or an increase in insurance rates.

Note: This provision does not apply to causes of action that were pending on the effective date of this Act. Cases already in progress are governed by prior law.

Part XII: Georgia SB 69 Summary — What This Means for Consumers

If you are considering a litigation funding agreement in Georgia, here is what this law means for you in plain terms:

• Bad actors can be blocked from registration. The Department of Banking and Finance can deny registration to applicants whose principals have felony convictions within the past ten years, and denied applicants have procedural rights to contest that denial.
• You have a right to cancel. Within five business days of signing or receiving funds — whichever comes later — you can walk away from the agreement without penalty by notifying the financier and returning the funds.
• Your attorney stays in control. The litigation financier cannot tell your attorney what to do, which experts to use, or whether to settle. You and your attorney make all decisions about your case.
• You can switch attorneys freely. The financing agreement cannot lock you into a particular attorney or penalize you for changing legal representation.
• You owe nothing beyond what you recover. If your case produces no recovery or not enough to cover the financier’s share, you are not personally on the hook for the difference.
• Your credit is protected. If the proceeds from your case are insufficient to repay the financier, the shortfall cannot be reported to a credit bureau.
• You get a complete contract before signing. No blank spaces, no hidden terms — everything, including the cancellation right, must be in the contract at the time you sign.
• The funding company cannot pick your vendors. No one can refer or require you to use particular services in exchange for or as a condition of financing.
• Foreign adversary money is blocked. Litigation financiers with ties to countries designated as foreign adversaries by the U.S. government (such as China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela) may not operate in Georgia’s courts.
• The financier shares your risk on frivolous litigation. For agreements of $25,000 or more, if a court awards sanctions for frivolous litigation against you in connection with the funded case, the litigation financier is jointly and severally liable and must indemnify you.

Part XIV: Quick-Reference Table

Important Notice

This guide is intended to provide a plain-language overview of the Georgia Courts Access and Consumer Protection Act (Senate Bill 69, As Passed) for informational purposes. It is not legal advice. The summaries in this guide are based on the As Passed bill text (SB 69/AP). Laws may be subject to regulatory interpretation, rulemaking, amendment, or judicial construction over time. If you have a specific legal question or are considering entering into a litigation financing agreement, you should consult a licensed Georgia attorney.

Source: Georgia Senate Bill 69 (SB 69/AP, 25th Legislature, 2025–2026 Regular Session), As Passed text. Signed into law April 21, 2025.