Montana Code 31-4-102. Definitions
31-4-102. (Effective January 1, 2024) Definitions. For the purposes of this part, the following definitions apply:
Terms Used In Montana Code 31-4-102
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes a corporation or other entity as well as a natural person. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Montana Code 1-1-201
- Verdict: The decision of a petit jury or a judge.
(1)”Consumer” means any individual who resides, is present, or is domiciled in this state or who is or may become a plaintiff, claimant, or complainant in a civil action or an administrative proceeding or in pursuit of any claim or cause of action in this state.
(2)”Entity” means any domestic or foreign corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, trust, fund, plan, or any other business, enterprise, association, or organization of any kind or nature.
(3)”Legal representative” means any attorney, group of attorneys, or law firm duly licensed and authorized to practice law and to represent a consumer in a civil action, administrative proceeding, or claim to recover damages in this state.
(4)”Litigation financer” means any person or group of persons engaged in, or formed, created, or established for the purpose of engaging in, the business of litigation financing or any other business or economic activity in which a person or group of persons receive consideration of any kind in exchange for providing litigation financing.
(5)”Litigation financing” means the financing, funding, advancing, or loaning of money to pay for fees, costs, expenses, or any other sums arising from or in any manner related to a civil action, administrative proceeding, claim, or cause of action, if the financing, funding, advancing, or loaning of money is provided by any person other than a person who is:
(a)a party to the civil action, administrative proceeding, claim, or cause of action;
(b)a legal representative engaged, directly or indirectly through another legal representative, to represent a party in the civil action, administrative proceeding, claim, or cause of action; or
(c)an entity or insurer with a preexisting contractual obligation to indemnify or defend a party to the civil action, administrative proceeding, claim, or cause of action.
(6)(a) “Litigation financing contract” means a written contract in which a person agrees to provide litigation financing to any person in conjunction with a civil action or an administrative proceeding or in pursuit of any claim or cause of action in this state in consideration for:
(i)the payment of interest, fees, or other consideration to the person providing the litigation financing; or
(ii)granting or assigning to the person providing the litigation financing a right to receive payment from the value of any proceeds or other consideration realized from any judgment, award, settlement, verdict, or other form of monetary relief any consumer, legal representative, or other person may receive or recover in relation to the civil action, administrative proceeding, claim, or cause of action.
(b)The term does not include any agreement, contract, or engagement of a legal representative to render legal services to a consumer on a contingency fee basis, including the advancement of legal costs by the legal representative, in which the services or costs are provided to or on behalf of a consumer by the legal representative representing the consumer in the civil action, administrative proceeding, claim, or cause of action.
(7)”Person” includes an individual and an entity.
(8)”Regulated lender” has the same meaning as in 31-1-111.
(9)”Secretary” means the secretary of state provided for in Title 2, chapter 15, part 4.