This webinar discusses three litigation funding case studies: 1) Disclosure of litigation funding arrangements in class action lawsuits. Recent court rulings have ordered disclosure of funding but prohibited disclosure of funder communications. 2) Non-attorney ownership of law firms. While historically prohibited, some jurisdictions now allow alternative business structures, including PWC partnering with a law firm. 3) Other developments, including a litigation funder purchasing a judgment, New York legislation on consumer funding, and securitization of litigation funding claims. The panel of litigation funding experts analyzes these cases and discusses legal and strategic implications.

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Practical and entertaining education for
attorneys, accountants, business owners and
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5. Disclaimer
The material in this webinar is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered
legal, financial or other professional advice. You should consult with an attorney or other
appropriate professional to determine what may be best for your individual needs. While
Financial Poise™ takes reasonable steps to ensure that information it publishes is accurate,
Financial Poise™ makes no guaranty in this regard.
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6. Meet the Faculty
MODERATOR:
Jeremy Waitzman - Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP
PANELISTS:
Dave Kerstein - Validity Finance LLC
Christopher Freeman - Burford Capital
Joel Cohen - Stout
Jeffery Lula - GLS Capital, LLC
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7. About This Webinar
Three Case Studies
As the legal funding market evolves, so too do the legal/ethical jurisprudence, strategic
decisions inherent in utilizing funding, financial instruments used for funding, and nature of
funder/funded relationship. In this webinar, a panel of experienced litigation funding
professionals examine three live legal funding deals, and discuss how they impact
considerations of (i) disclosure of litigation funding, (ii) fee-splitting and non-attorney
ownership of law firms, and (iii) financial engineering of innovative funding deals.
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8. About This Series
Commercial Litigation Funding 101
This webinar series discusses advanced topics in the field of litigation funding. Once a fledgling
industry predominantly used in the Commonwealth nations, litigation funding has over the past ten
years becomes a well-accepted and prevalent practice in the United States. As the industry has
evolved, so too have the menu of available products, strategic decisions made by funders and
practitioners, and types of investors. This three-part series is geared towards educating attorneys
and clients on legal/ethical, strategic, and business decisions when considering litigation funding,
and investors seeking to learn about an increasingly mainstream asset class. Panelists include
preeminent experts in the field of litigation funding, including academics who have written on the
topic, investment managers at preeminent litigation funders, litigators who have used funding
products, and independent litigation funding advisors.
Each Financial Poise Webinar is delivered in Plain English, understandable to investors, business owners, and
executives without much background in these areas, yet is of primary value to attorneys, accountants, and other
seasoned professionals. Each episode brings you into engaging, sometimes humorous, conversations designed to
entertain as it teaches. Each episode in the series is designed to be viewed independently of the other episodes so that
participants will enhance their knowledge of this area whether they attend one, some, or all episodes.
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9. Episodes in this Series
#1: An Introduction to a New Yet Old Funding Alternative
Premiere date: 5/12/20
#2: A Menu of Products for Investors and Lawyers
Premiere date: 6/9/20
#3: Three Case Studies
Premiere date: 7/14/20
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10. Episode #3
Three Case Studies
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11. Outline
• Background on litigation funding
• Three case studies
 Disclosure of Litigation Funding Arrangements
 PWC’s Law Firm / Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
 “Around the Horn”: Interesting Developments
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12. Litigation Funding: An Overview
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13. Litigation Funding: A Broad Definition
•Litigation or legal funding is the “funding of litigation activities by entities other than the
parties themselves, their counsel, or other entities with a pre-existing contractual relationship
with one of the parties.”
•Source: American Bar Association Commission on Ethics 20/20, “White Paper on Alternative
Litigation Finance.”
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14. Litigation Funding: Applications
• Single-case fundings
• Portfolios of law firm and plaintiff cases
• Other structures
o Law firm loans
o Equity ownership of law firms
o Defense funding
o Litigation insurance
o Special situations trades
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15. Case #1: Disclosure of Litigation Funding Arrangements
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16. Discoverability of Litigation Funding Agreements:
Work Product
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• What is work product?

17. Discoverability of Litigation Funding Agreements:
Work Product
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• How does Work Product surface in Litigation
Funding?

18. Discoverability of Litigation Funding Agreements:
Work Product
• Should litigation funding arrangements be discoverable?
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19. Gharabe V. Chevron
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20. Gharabe V. Chevron
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• What was the plaintiff’s defense?

21. Gharabe V. Chevron
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• What is special about class action litigation?

22. Gharabe V. Chevron
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• Did the litigation funding arrangement matter?

23. Litigation Funding Disclosure: Opioid MDL
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24. Litigation Funding Disclosure: Opioid MDL
• What did the court order?
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25. Litigation Funding Disclosure: Opioid MDL
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• What did the court prohibit?

26. Litigation Funding Disclosure: UAT vs. AT&T
• AT&T’s motion to compel litigation funding-related discovery from plaintiff United Access Technologies (“UAT”) in the
patent infringement suit was denied.
• The decision follows a trend of courts rejecting defendants’ efforts to uncover details about their opponent’s litigation
finance arrangements and communications.
• The court rejected AT&T’s position that the court’s 2018 decision in Acceleration Bay LLC v. Activism Blizzard
Inc. held that communications with potential litigation funders are always relevant to issues in a patent infringement
case.

27. Litigation Funding Disclosure
• What about other areas of law?
 Patents
 Bankruptcy
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28. Case #2: PWC’s Law Firm/Non-Attorney Ownership of
Law Firms
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29. PWC’s Law Firm/Non-Attorney Ownership of
Law Firms
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• How has the non-attorney ownership of law
firms been historically prohibited?

30. Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
• How does the UK differ from the US?
 Endorsed litigation funding as a mechanism
for leveling the playing field
 Ushered in alternative business structures
 Reformed draconian fee shifting of legal fees,
expenses, and insurance premiums
 Made available damages based fee
agreements
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31. Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
• How does the UK differ from the US?
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32. Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
• How does Washington D.C. differ from the 50 states?
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33. Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
• How can an attorney in a Model Rule jurisdiction partner with an attorney in a non-Model
Rule jurisdiction?
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34. PWC’s Law Firm/Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
• What did PWC do?
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35. PWC’s Law Firm/Non-Attorney Ownership of Law Firms
• Will the rules on fee-splitting become more liberal?
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36. Case #3: “Around the Horn”: Interesting Developments
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37. “Around the Horn”: Magcorp Sale of Judgment to
Litigation Funder
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38. “Around the Horn”: New York Legislation on
Consumer Litigation Funding
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39. “Around the Horn”: Securitization of Litigation
Funding Claims
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40. “Around the Horn”: Economic Uncertainty and
COVID-19

41. About the Faculty
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42. Jeremy Waitzman - jwaitzman@sfgh.com
Jeremy Waitzman advises his clients on significant transactions and operational issues in their businesses. Described by
clients as “an essential business advisor” and “a partner in the success of my business,” Jeremy has substantial experience
representing businesses of all types and sizes from inception, guiding them through significant growth, and often through
ownership’s exit. His clients include privately-held middle market and emerging growth companies, family offices/funds,
investors, C-level executives, boards of directors, family-owned businesses and entrepreneurs. Jeremy counsels clients in the
areas of corporate law, mergers & acquisitions, private placements, general contract law and often acts as outside general
counsel for his clients. Jeremy represents individuals, closely held businesses, start-up companies and serves as outside
counsel to several large corporations. His work with companies often includes strategies for creation of enterprise value. A big
firm-trained corporate and M&A deal attorney, his experience is transactions-intensive and includes work involving business
and capital structure, mergers and acquisitions, indemnification, private equity and venture capital, private placements and
securities offerings, investor rights and preferences, licensing and subscription agreements, intellectual property protection,
customer agreements and T&C’s, joint ventures, distribution and supply, executive employment, management equity and
incentive compensation, corporate governance including board and advisory boards, and corporate contracts and agreements
including enforcement. Jeremy has been included in various panels and lectured on topics related to corporate law, venture &
angel financing and mergers & acquisitions. Industry sector experience includes software, healthcare, specialty chemicals,
mobile, IT, eCommerce, transportation, insurance, marketing and public relations, construction, auto body, specialty
consumer, real estate, manufacturing, distribution and tech-enabled services. Prior to law school, Jeremy worked at a Fortune
500 company where he gained invaluable insight into the operations of large business.
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43. About The Faculty
Dave Kerstein - dave@validity-finance.com
As Chief Risk Officer and Senior Investment Manager at Validity Dave brings unparalleled
experience helping clients and law firms mitigate litigation risks with innovative funding
models. Prior to joining Validity, Dave was an Investment Manager for four years for a leading
litigation finance company. In addition to designing financial solutions to litigation, Dave
provides strategic advice in cases funded by Validity. With fifteen years experience handling
complex commercial disputes at Gibson Dunn, Dave has litigated on behalf of both plaintiffs,
for whom he has recovered substantial sums, and defendants, for whom he has achieved trial
court victories or favorable outcomes. He also possesses extensive experience across
jurisdictions, having tried cases in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels
across the US and internationally. Dave earned his J.D. from Penn Law where he was a Toll
Scholar, and his B.A. in diplomatic history from UPenn, where he was a BFScholar.
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44. About The Faculty
Christopher Freeman - CFreeman@burfordcapital.com
Christopher Freeman is a Vice President with responsibility for assessing and underwriting
legal risk in patent matters. As part of Burford’s investment team, Christopher evaluates
intellectual property cases and patent monetization campaigns and crafts investment
structures that align incentives between funder, law firm and claimant. Prior to joining Burford,
Christopher was Vice President and Head of Litigation at Blackbird Technologies, a company
he co-founded in 2014. At Blackbird, Christopher oversaw all business operations and
successfully built and managed one of the most prominent patent acquisition and licensing
entities in the US, growing the firm to a dozen employees and a portfolio of over 100 patents
and applications. Earlier in his career, Christopher was an IP partner at Kirkland & Ellis and
practiced at Latham & Watkins and at Quinn Emanuel. Christopher graduated from the
Boston University School of Law and earned an undergraduate degree from Northwestern
University in Industrial Engineering and Economics.
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45. Joel Cohen - JCohen@stout.com
Joel Cohen is a Managing Director in the Dispute Consulting group. Joel comes to the firm with over 17 years of
experience in the dispute, forensic, and insolvency practice areas, most specifically focused in the financial services and
asset management industries. His experience encompasses a number of significant cross-border insolvency and
litigation matters, where he has served as financial advisor and consulting expert to fiduciaries, offshore liquidators,
bankruptcy, and litigation trustees. He has assisted these clients in a variety of litigation consulting services, including
asset tracing, fraud, Ponzi schemes, industry custom and practice for investment managers, and forensic analysis. Joel
has also led several internal investigations within the context of family office, investment advisors, and various corporate
structures. Before joining Stout, Joel was a Managing Director at a boutique financial advisory and consulting firm. Prior
to that, he spent a number of years with a global financial advisory firm in its Dispute & Investigations group where he
helped manage a team of CPAs, economists, attorneys, and finance professionals in executing a diverse array of
complex engagements related to the various hedge fund/private equity fraud, insolvencies, and litigations that
characterized the global financial crisis of 2008-09. He was a leader in the disputes practice at a Big 4 accounting firm
and senior vice president at a prominent investment bank in charge of internal investigations. Joel has worked with
premier law firms on accounting malpractice, business insurance disputes, fraud detection, and economic investigations.
Joel has expertise in managing the expectations of various stakeholders involved in insolvency proceedings, liquidations,
litigation settlements, and receiverships, namely in his capacity of assisting a board, trustee, receiver, or official liquidator
with their duties, including U.S. and cross border considerations. He has extensive experience within the offshore world,
regularly handling cases out of the Caribbean.
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46. Jeffery Lula - jlula@glscap.com
Jeffery Lula serves as a Principal at GLS and is responsible for due diligence and monitoring of commercial
litigation and arbitration-related investments.
Prior to joining GLS, Jeff was a litigation partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago. During his nine years at
Kirkland, Jeff’s practice focused on a wide variety of complex commercial litigation, including contract
disputes, bankruptcy litigation, corporate mismanagement, fraudulent transfer litigation, and insurance
litigation. His experience extends to all stages of litigation and appeal, and he also counseled clients during
internal investigations prior to litigation or arbitration. He has represented clients in a variety of fields, including
private equity firms, insurance carriers, and large Chapter 11 debtors.
Jeff holds a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he served as an Articles’ Editor of the
University of Chicago Law Review, and a B.S. from University of Illinois.
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About The Faculty

47. Questions or Comments?
If you have any questions about this webinar that you did not get to ask during the live
premiere, or if you are watching this webinar On Demand, please do not hesitate to email us
at info@financialpoise.com with any questions or comments you may have. Please include
the name of the webinar in your email and we will do our best to provide a timely response.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The material in this presentation is for general educational purposes
only. It has been prepared primarily for attorneys and accountants for use in the pursuit of
their continuing legal education and continuing professional education.
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48. About Financial Poise
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