Ohio Enacts Litigation Funding Law With 10% Interest Cap and Foreign Funding Ban

Ohio just put its lawsuit investors on a registry. DeWine signed HB 105 into law July 7, requiring third-party litigation funders to register with the attorney general before operating in the state and to disclose their funding agreements once a case resolves, according to the Insurance Information Institute.

For the 8 million licensed drivers in Ohio, the change touches the machinery behind bodily injury claims rather than next month's premium notice. Litigation costs in Ohio ran $2,583 per household in 2022, the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform reported when it welcomed the bill on July 8.

What HB 105 Actually Requires

Reps. Meredith Craig, R-Smithville, and Jim Thomas, R-Jackson Township, sponsored the measure. Registration with the attorney general comes first, before a funder writes a single check in Ohio. Once litigation resolves, the funder must file the agreement with that office.

The foreign-money provision drew the sharpest language in the bill text, which cites "the grave risk posed by foreign actors that seek to interfere" with Ohio courts. Funders may not contract with parties domiciled outside the U.S., nor may they finance claims backed directly or indirectly by foreign capital.

Consumer protections run deeper than the trade coverage suggests. Law firm Tucker Ellis notes that HB 105 defines a consumer agreement as one involving cash payments below $400,000, applies a 10% interest rate cap to those deals, and forbids funders from paying commissions or steering claimants toward particular attorneys or medical providers. Defendants can also demand that a plaintiff confirm a funding agreement exists and produce it.

How Lawsuit Investing Reaches Your Premium

Third-party litigation funding works like venture capital for lawsuits. An investor pays the legal costs, then collects a share of any settlement or judgment. Triple-I argues the arrangement stretches cases out and pushes demands higher, since a funder with capital at risk has little reason to accept an early offer.

"Third-party litigation financing has evolved into a global multibillion-dollar asset class of dark money," said Mark Friedlander, Triple-I's senior director of media relations. "Without question, there needs to be more transparency and that's why this legislation is so important."

The verdict data explains the industry's urgency. Marathon Strategies counted 135 nuclear verdicts of $10 million or more against corporate defendants in 2024, a 52% jump over 2023 and the highest total since tracking began in 2009. Median verdict size climbed to $51 million from $44 million. Thermonuclear awards above $100 million rose 81.5% to 49 cases, five of which topped $1 billion.

Capital keeps arriving. Westfleet Advisors found new commitments to U.S. commercial litigation finance rose roughly 23% in 2025, breaking a two-year contraction, with 39 active funders and an average transaction of $8.1 million. The 2024 edition of that report put 42 capital providers in charge of $16.1 billion in assets.

Where Ohio Fits Among the States

Triple-I places Ohio alongside six states with comparable frameworks. Each differs in mechanism, though all mandate clearer disclosure of financing agreements and block foreign-funded deals.

State	Bill	Year	Approach
North Carolina	SB 481	2026	Effective ban, narrow exceptions
Ohio	HB 105	2026	AG registration, post-resolution disclosure, 10% consumer cap
Utah	HB 280	2026	Disclosure, foreign funding prohibited
Colorado	HB25-1329	2025	Disclosure, foreign funding prohibited
Mississippi	SB 2747	2025	Disclosure, foreign funding prohibited
Oklahoma	HB 2619	2025	Disclosure, foreign funding prohibited
Tennessee	HB 2108	2025	Disclosure, foreign funding prohibited

Source: Insurance Information Institute, July 14, 2026, citing each state's enacted legislation. Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, West Virginia and Wisconsin had litigation funding rules on the books before this legislative wave, per Missouri Lawyers Media reporting from January 2026. Approach column summarizes the primary regulatory mechanism, not the full statute.

North Carolina went furthest, and our coverage of the first state to ban third-party litigation funding lays out the exceptions carved into that statute. Ohio chose registration and post-case transparency instead of prohibition.

What Ohio Drivers Should Expect

Nobody should watch the mailbox for a refund. Full coverage in Ohio averages $1,404 a year, or $117 per month, and liability-only runs $772 annually at $64 monthly, Insurify reported for 2026. Those rates already sit well under the national average, and Insurify projects roughly flat movement through the rest of 2026.

Source: Insurify 2026 Ohio rate analysis. Figures reflect statewide averages across driver profiles; full coverage includes liability, collision, and comprehensive. Ohio full-coverage rates rose 15% in 2024 over 2023 before flattening.

Reform states offer a rough timeline. Louisiana recorded more than $340 million in private passenger auto premium reductions in 2025 after its tort changes, and 20 Louisiana insurers filed rate decreases in the months that followed. Texas drivers, by contrast, carry an estimated $1,724 per year in hidden litigation costs baked into premiums. Two to three years is the realistic window before filings reflect a change of this kind.

What You Should Do Now

Looking Ahead

Congress is circling the same target. Sen. Chuck Grassley introduced the Litigation Funding Transparency Act of 2026 in February, and Rep. Darrell Issa filed the Litigation Transparency Act of 2025 in the House, both aimed at forcing disclosure in federal courts.

Watch the Ohio attorney general's registry for its first published list of funders, expected as the office builds out the registration process. Watch too for whether Ohio insurers cite HB 105 in 2027 and 2028 rate filings, which is where any premium effect becomes visible.

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