Third-party litigation financing is getting closer scrutiny in New York, where lawmakers are pushing to regulate an industry in which companies have been accused of charging unreasonably high fees and interest rates.

But supporters of third-party litigation funding and representatives from the industry argue that fronting consumers funds from their potential settlements can help cash-strapped litigants make ends meet while they wait for their settlements to get paid out and that reports that some borrowers have been stuck with interest rates as high as 124 percent do not reflect the industry as a whole.