Litigation companies fighting to enforce agreements they entered into with ex-NFL players seeking claims from the estimated $1 billion concussion settlement scored a partial win Friday when a federal appellate panel ruled that portions of the companies' lending agreements may be enforceable.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled Friday that the district court judge overseeing the settlement implementation went beyond the court's reach when she nullified the lending agreements in their entirety.

According to the panel, the court had broad authority to protect the integrity of the settlement and was therefore within its power to bar portions of any agreements that allowed the companies to seek funds directly from the claims administrator, which is the entity tasked with making payments to the players. However, the Third Circuit panel said the district court went too far in voiding the contracts entirely, and said the court did not have the authority to void contracts in which the companies sought to seek funds from the players directly.