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that it's the vulnerability of the client- victim that is most worrisome about these loans. It is why ambulance chas- ing is not allowed. And why champerty and maintenance laws exist. Furlong's problem with lawsuit loans is that they bring a stranger into a trial, into a civil dispute. He says some of the oldest ethi- cal and legal standards in law go back to the essential question of who gets to bring a case to court. "We have a very long-standing tradition that says it is only the parties in question, and that's it," says Furlong. "And when we allowed contingency fees to be recognized, we carved out an exception to the champer- ty laws, the whole question of a stranger entering the case. If a plaintiff 's lawyer takes on the case for 30 per cent of the eventual award, is that lawyer a stranger to the case? Yes, but we said we'd make an exception only for lawyers, who we try and should hold to a very high standard." A LAST RESORT L ender Stephen Pauwels has to deal with the issue of vulner- ability and maintaining high standards on a constant basis. "The majority of our borrowers would still want our loans if we doubled our rates. There are lenders out there who see big value in future settlements and they see a borrowing population that is very desperate and will borrow at any cost. It sounds counterintuitive but we don't encourage plaintiffs to borrow money personally on their future settlements. We advise them to exhaust every other avenue before coming to us: friends, family, selling assets, other traditional lenders if possible, because most of them don't realize how long it could take before the settlement and most think they get much more money than they actually receive." Pauwels, Kelakos, and others believe litigation loans serve a purpose when dis- tributed and used responsibly and only as a last resort. "Lawsuit loans are not really a developed market in the sense that you can't just pick up the phone and call Bank of America," says Kelakos. "The risk requires people who have access to resources to evaluate the different claims ORDER # 982664-65198 $152 Softcover + CD-ROM approx. 1,860 pages August 2011 978-0-7798-3555-3 Annual volumes supplied on standing order subscription Practice Advisor available upon request on standing order subscription Multiple copy discounts available The 2012 edition includes a completely searchable CD-ROM with complete book contents and full text cases. Sign up for a standing order subscription and you are also entitled to Alberta Civil Practice Advisor, a monthly electronic supplement, FREE, upon request. AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Order online at www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. AUTHORITATIVE. INNOVATIVE. TRUSTED. and can assess the value." According to Pauwels, no bank will touch these loans because they involve ongoing litigation. He asks what lender would expose them- selves to the uncertainties of the litigation process? You don't know how much a plaintiff is going to get, if he will get it, or when he will get it, and he has no ability to service the loan in the meantime. "This made it a no-brainer for us," says Pauwels. "We understand the value of this business, and lending against that value, where no one else really can." Furlong sums up the lawsuit loan busi- ness this way: "This is an area we have not seen before and it's one I think we have to manage very carefully. If a plaintiff has a case that no lawyer will take on a contin- gency basis, and no one else is interested in supporting the case — not friends or family — it is possible it is not a very good case." NEW EDITION ALBERTA RULES OF COURT ANNOTATED 2012 ALLAN A. FRADSHAM For years, practitioners have trusted Alberta Rules of Court Annotated as their single source reference on practice and procedure before the courts of Alberta. With its insightful annotations of orders and judgments, significant case law, and pinpoint references to quoted pages, it's an invaluable tool at discoveries, in client meetings, and in the courtroom. UNIQUE FEATURES INCLUDE: • Full text of all the Rules, as amended, that govern the procedure in Alberta courts • Direct quotations from all significant decisions that interpret or apply the Rules • Concordances between the new and old rules • • Procedural charts for practice structure and timelines Practice Directions issued by the Court • Cross-references to related Rules • Comprehensive index to ensure quick access to the law • Alberta Civil Practice Advisor – a monthly email supplement of key practice cases and changes to legislation (FREE with your standing order subscription) www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com N O VEMBER / D ECEMBER 2011 39