A New York-based litigation funder has launched what it's calling a "social justice" first for the industry — a nonprofit financing program for criminal exonerees.

Those who receive funding for legal or other expenses will have no obligation to repay the money if they fail to prevail on wrongful conviction claims, Validity Finance said in announcing the program.

If exonerees' civil claims are successful, they need only pay back Validity at its cost of capital, the company said, representing "a more just alternative" than loans and traditional litigation funding that typically seek returns of two or three times the investment.

"There is a large population of men and women — especially of color — who've been victims of wrongful prosecution," said Validity CEO Ralph Sutton this week.

"Many have been exonerated through the work of dedicated advocacy groups and major law firms devoting substantial pro bono resources to secure their clients' release. As these individuals pursue just compensation for decades of lost lives, our Exoneree Program can help them restart their financial lives, even if they're able to find employment."

The program will provide up to $100,000 to individuals with proven innocence claims. To qualify, applicants will have to have been behind bars longer than five years and be represented by lawyers with "a proven track record of success." A financial adviser will also have to create a litigation budget, and the relevant city, state or county must indemnify employees for at least $5 million.

The company said it expects individual funding to average around $75,000, which can go toward living expenses while an exonerated person awaits a judgment or settlement check.

Players in the legal funding arena have long touted their business as a means for underfunded plaintiffs to get justice in the courts. But with the industry focused on multimillion-dollar corporate cases, disclosure rules and increasingly sophisticated means of monetizing legal claims, examples of social justice and not-for-proft programs are rare.

Last year, litigation funding giant Burford Capital threw an additional $100 million toward The Equity Project. The Burford program, initially geared toward supporting women-led cases, was expanded to include matters led by racially diverse teams and firms engaged in environmental, social and governance efforts.

In 2019, Validity also launched the Equal Access summer intern program for first-year law students of diverse backgrounds, with fellows splitting time between Validity and a pro bono or social advocacy organization.

"One of commercial litigation funding's goals has always been to help deserving plaintiffs survive a lengthy legal process — empowering them to use the justice system as it was intended," said Validity portfolio counsel Ronit Cohen. "The Exoneree Program does the same for those the criminal justice system has failed, but on a nonprofit basis."

So far, the Validity program has funded two exonerees. One of them, Charles Johnson of Chicago, was convicted in 1995 along with three other men in a double murder and robbery at a used-car dealership.

Johnson served 20 years of a life sentence before being released in 2016 after a pro bono effort by the Center on Wrongful Conviction at Northwestern University and Kirkland & Ellis LLP uncovered new fingerprint evidence, as well as witnesses pointing to different suspects with motives for the killings.

Cook County eventually vacated the convictions of Johnson and his co-defendants. In 2018, Johnson was awarded $226,000 in state compensation, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. He's also pursuing wrongful imprisonment claims against police officers, state prosecutors and the city of Chicago, Validity said, and is using funding for living expenses.

"The process of redress for wrongfully incarcerated individuals exists but is protracted," said one of Johnson's attorneys, Locke E. Bowman of the MacArthur Justice Center. "Validity's funding provides a much-needed lifeline for Mr. Johnson and others like him without taking further advantage of them in the form of onerous litigation funding terms."

--Editing by Orlando Lorenzo.