Finding that the arrangement did not run afoul of New York usury laws, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that a litigation funder is entitled to a chunk of the proceeds from a plaintiff’s settlement of a legal malpractice lawsuit against Reed Smith.

A three-judge panel of the court on Tuesday affirmed a Western District of Pennsylvania judge’s ruling in Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel v. West that two related litigation funding entities, Fast Trak Investment Co. and RJC Funding, were entitled to a portion of the settlement far in excess of the amount the companies fronted to John H.C. West III during the course of his litigation against Reed Smith.