tephen A. Wood on local underwriting over algorithms in pre-settlement funding
tephen A. Wood, Founder & Lawyer at Litigation Funding, LLC, provides pre-settlement cash advances to Michigan plaintiffs with active personal injury cases. tephen A. Wood personally underwrites every Michigan application and explains why local attorney-level knowledge speeds decisions and produces more nuanced approvals than out-of-state or algorithm-driven lenders.
Local, attorney-led underwriting rooted in decades of Michigan experience still outperforms algorithm-only approaches for pre-settlement funding. Use AI to handle routine content and intake tasks, but keep final funding decisions with experienced underwriters who know the local legal landscape.
What’s the quick origin story of your business, and what makes what you do genuinely different from the other options your customers are looking at?
Litigation Funding, LLC was built around my 47+ years as a Michigan personal injury attorney, so instead of an out-of-state lender or algorithm-driven platform, every Michigan application is personally underwritten by me, Stephen A. Wood, J.D. What makes us different is that I know Michigan law, Michigan counties, and Michigan insurance carriers from decades of practice, which leads to faster decisions, more nuanced approvals on borderline cases, and a local attorney-level perspective that most other funding companies simply don’t have.
Where does most of your new business come from today, and where do you wish it came from?
Most of our new business today comes from Michigan personal injury attorneys who already know and trust me—over 250 plaintiff lawyers in the state regularly refer their clients to Litigation Funding, LLC because they know I personally underwrite each case. Ideally, I’d like even more of our business to come from those same attorney referrals and repeat relationships, since that channel consistently brings stronger, well-documented cases and clients who are already comfortable with the process.
What’s one thing you’ve actually handed over to AI in the last year, and one thing you tried it on and went back to doing the human way?
One thing I’ve actually handed over to AI in the last year is drafting and polishing routine written content—things like website copy, FAQs, and outreach emails—where I use AI to generate clean first drafts that I then tailor to my voice and Michigan practice. One thing I tried AI on and went back to doing the human way is underwriting decisions on funding applications; after testing it, I kept the final review and approval strictly in my hands because my 47 years of Michigan personal injury experience still beats any algorithm when it comes to judging case merit and settlement potential.
Have you noticed a change in how customers find you or what they already know before they reach out? Is anyone arriving through AI assistants like ChatGPT yet?
I haven’t seen a dramatic shift yet in how customers find us—most still arrive through attorney referrals, Google searches for “Michigan pre-settlement funding,” or direct outreach from plaintiffs who already know they need funding while their case is pending. At this point, I’m not seeing clear evidence that people are arriving specifically via AI assistants like ChatGPT, but I do expect that to grow as more potential clients use AI to research their options before contacting a funding company.
If you were advising someone in your industry on all of this for the next 12 months, what would you tell them to actually do, and what would you tell them to ignore?
If I were advising someone in litigation funding over the next 12 months, I’d tell them to actually do three things: double down on local attorney relationships and education, make their underwriting process as transparent and fast as possible, and use AI to handle routine content and intake tasks while keeping final funding decisions in the hands of experienced people who understand the local legal landscape. I’d tell them to ignore the hype around fully automated, algorithm-only underwriting and “set it and forget it” marketing funnels, because in this space trust, local knowledge, and human judgment still drive approvals, referrals, and long-term reputation.
Thank you to tephen A. Wood and the team at Litigation Funding, LLC for sharing what actually worked with Leaders Perception readers.
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