3rd annual
LF Dealmakers
MASS TORTS
SEPTEMBER 15-16, 2026
NEW YORK CITY
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If you’d like to know as soon as more information is available, please join the Dealmakers email list below.
About The Event
BRIDGING MASS TORTS & LITIGATION FINANCE
Where Deals Get Done, and 2026 Plans Get Locked In.
Returning for its 3rd annual edition, LF Dealmakers Mass Torts brings the mass torts and litigation finance community back to New York City at a critical point in the year — when conversations turn into commitments.
Taking place September 15–16, this two-day forum is designed for senior funders, plaintiffs’ firms, strategic advisors, and key stakeholders who are actively deploying capital, building pipelines, and advancing deals that will carry into 2026 and beyond.
This is not a theoretical discussion. It’s a working forum built around real business where you can expect:
- Insight from market leaders: Practical, deal-relevant perspectives from senior executives at the forefront of mass torts and litigation finance.
- Strategic networking: Curated one-to-one meetings and a tightly vetted audience ensure every connection advances live opportunities.
- High-level deal focus: Expert speakers share strategies on capital allocation, case selection, and risk management.
Maximize your Dealmakers experience: LF Dealmakers Mass Torts runs alongside the 9th Annual LF Dealmakers Forum. Book the combined ticket for access to both events, plus expanded networking and cross-strategy insight.
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98Percent
1:1 Meetings were rated very good to excellent
STATS FROM OUR INAUGURAL MASS TORTS
LF Dealmakers by the numbers
200+
Decision
Makers
50+
one to one
mettings
60
expert
SPEAKERS
8+
Hours of dedicated networking
sponsorship opportunities
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2026 SPEAKERS
Get Updates
If you’d like to know as soon as more information is available, please join the Dealmakers email list below.
2026 KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Kenneth R. Feinberg
2026 FORUM SPEAKERS
Bryan F. Aylstock
Founding Partner
Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLC
Andy Birchfield, Jr.
FOUNDING PARTNER, AYLSTOCK, WITKIN, KREIS & OVERHOLTZ, PLC
Mr. Aylstock founded his firm (Aylstock Witkin) in 2001, which is now comprised of more than 35 attorneys and 400 staff members who have directly handled the claims of more than 100,000 individual clients and class representatives over the past 20+ years.
Mr. Aylstock graduated number one in his law school section from the University of Florida College of Law and served as a senior editor of the Florida Law Review. Following law school, Mr. Aylstock clerked for the Honorable Roger Vinson, Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
He has specialized in multi-district and class action litigation for more than 25 years and has developed substantial experience in handling complex litigation in both MDLs and state court consolidated proceedings. He has been appointed to multiple leadership roles by Courts across the Country on behalf of Plaintiffs.
Tom Baker
William Maul Measey Professor
University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Tom Baker
WILLIAM MAUL MEASEY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA CAREY LAW SCHOOL
Tom Baker is the William Maul Measey Professor at Penn Carey Law School, with a secondary appointment at the Wharton School of Business, and a member of the Board of Directors of the liability insurer, Bowhead Specialty. Tom teaches and writes about legal finance with a special interest in adjacent insurance markets. Tom was the Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law Liability Insurance. He was awarded the 2024 Harry J. Kalven, Jr. Prize for “empirical scholarship that has contributed most effectively to the advancement of research in law and society” and the 2013 Robert B. McKay to honor his “commitment to the advancement of justice, scholarship and the legal profession, demonstrated by outstanding contributions to the fields of tort and insurance law.”
Cesar Bello
Partner, Director of Litigation Finance
Corbin Capital Partners
Andy Birchfield, Jr.
Mass Torts Section Head
Beasley Allen
Andy Birchfield, Jr.
MASS TORTS SECTION HEAD, BEASLEY ALLEN
Andy Birchfield graduated from Thomas Goode Jones School of Law magna cum laude in 1991. He has significant trial experience in both state and federal court, and his practice encompasses a wide range of legal matters including personal injury and civil rights cases. For the past 25 years, Andy’s practice has focused primarily on mass tort product liability litigation.
Andy joined Beasley Allen Law Firm in 1996 and manages the firm’s Mass Torts Section, which has successfully resolved claims for thousands of clients in the Vioxx, Bextra/Celebrex, Actos, Xarelto, Baycol, Rezulin, PPA, Ephedra, Transvaginal mesh, and other litigations.
Andy is also a member of the American Association for Justice and the Montgomery Trial Lawyers Associations. He has served as president of the the Alabama Young Lawyers, as well as on numerous task forces and committees of the Alabama State Bar. Andy has served on the Committee for Character and Fitness of Alabama, which assesses those attributes with respect to applicants for admission to the Bar.
Max Bernstein
Senior Vice President
CAC Specialty
Tina Bullock
Managing Partner
Bullock Legal Group
Tina Bullock
MANAGING PARTNER, BULLOCK LEGAL GROUP
Tina Bullock is a pioneer in addressing video game addiction and a strong advocate for children’s rights. With over a decade of experience in litigating complex mass tort and medical malpractice cases, she has been recognized by ALM as an honoree for Managing Partner of the Year. Her firm was also acknowledged by ALM for its Diversity Initiative.
In 2024, Tina was nominated by her peers as Best Lawyer in 2024. She was also selected as a Mid-South Rising Star by Super Lawyers. Additionally, her peers nominated her as a Top 100 Attorney and for Medical Malpractice – Top 25 by The National Trial Lawyers Association. She also serves on the editorial board for Georgia’s Law 360.
Tina is a former registered nurse with twenty-three years of clinical hospital experience in some of the most specialized fields of medicine. She also has a BS in Accounting.
Hugh Carlson
CEO
Three Crowns
High Carlson
CEO, THREE CROWNS
Hugh Carlson is the CEO and General Counsel of Three Crowns LLP. Since joining at the firm’s launch in 2014, he has helped build Three Crowns from a start-up boutique into one of the world’s premier dispute resolution practices.
A former software engineer, Hugh has made innovation a defining feature of the firm. Under his leadership, Three Crowns has become a recognized leader in legal AI. The Financial Times has repeatedly honored the firm’s AI innovations, including its deployment of Claude Code and ChatGPT Codex to build enterprise-grade software tailored to its practice. Microsoft has called Three Crowns an “AI-powered company … bending the curve on innovation.”
With Stanford’s Legal Innovation through Frontier Technology Lab (liftlab), Hugh co-led the development of Atelier, an AI-powered cross-examination training platform that won the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers award for best training innovation in 2025.
Hugh has lectured at Harvard Law School since 2019. He is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia, and holds the leading credential in information security, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).
Alfonso Chan
Partner
Cahill
ALFONSO CHAN
PARTNER, CAHILL
Alfonso Garcia Chan is a trial lawyer who focuses on litigating and licensing complex intellectual property cases on behalf of universities, research institutes, and technology companies.
His matters are primarily focused on semiconductors and electronic technology-intensive matters, as well as biomaterials and medical devices. Alfonso represents plaintiffs and defendants in district courts nationwide and before the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
He is also registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and has experience in inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). His international practice includes handling matters in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Europe.
Alfonso served as an adjunct professor of International Comparative Law at Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law. Prior to practicing law, Alfonso was an officer in the United States Navy and nuclear propulsion engineer at Naval Reactors Headquarters.
Brooke Cohen
Founding and Managing Partner
Cohen Hirsch
Jeff Cohen
Partner and Managing Director
Contingency Capital
Jeff Cohen
PARTNER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR
Jeff Cohen is a Partner and Managing Director of Contingency Capital, which he joined at its inception in 2021.
Prior to joining Contingency Capital, Jeff was formerly a Partner and Managing Director at Southpaw Asset Management, a distressed credit opportunity investment firm, which he joined at its inception in 2005. Prior to working at Southpaw, Jeff was a Vice President and Analyst in the distressed securities fund at Ramius Capital Group LLC.
Jeff began his professional career as a bankruptcy and restructuring attorney in private practice and served as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Bruce I. Fox in the United States Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Jeff received a BA in Political Science from Columbia University and a
JD from Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Jayne Conroy
Shareholder
Simmons Hanly Conroy
Jayne Conroy
SHAREHOLDER, SIMMONS HANLY CONROY
Jayne Conroy is a nationally recognized trial attorney and named partner at Simmons Hanly Conroy, one of the largest plaintiff law firms in the U.S. With over three decades of experience, she is known for her strategic leadership in complex civil litigation, including mass torts, product liability, sexual abuse, environmental, and pharmaceutical cases. Jayne has held key roles in high-profile multidistrict litigations such as the National Prescription Opiate MDL, DePuy Pinnacle Hip Implants, and the East Palestine train derailment. She has also been instrumental in securing justice for survivors of sexual abuse through litigation against powerful institutions. Her work has helped recover billions of dollars in settlements for individuals and communities harmed by corporate negligence. Jayne’s dedication to justice has earned her numerous accolades, including induction into the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and recognition as one of the National Law Journal’s Outstanding Women Lawyers. She continues to lead with integrity, compassion, and resolve.
Melinda R. Coolidge
Managing Partner
Hausfeld
Davis Cooper
Founding Partner
Cooper Masterman
Davis Cooper
FOUNDING PARTNER, COOPER MASTERMAN
Davis Cooper is the founding partner of Cooper Masterman PLLC, where he leads a modern litigation practice focused on mass torts, appeals, and strategic consulting for litigation funders and other capital providers. He has overseen the firm’s integration of AI, building one of the field’s more technology-forward litigation firms.
David Cunningham
Chief Innovation Officer
ReedSmith
Scott DeNardo
EVP, Mass Torts
ARCHER Systems
Scott DeNardo
EVP MASS TORTS, ARCHER SYSTEMS
Scott DeNardo is a 30 year practicing attorney. He started out as a litigator and worked in the District Attorney and Public Defenders offices in Northampton County, PA. He also served as a County Solicitor with a concentration on representing the Children Youth and Families division. He was a corporate law litigator for several years and then became a Global General Counsel for a multi national company that he helped lead growth from 1000 to 12,000 employees in ten countries over 14 years. An international General Counsel for 24 plus years he then became CEO of an international corporate law conference company. Throughout much of this time he was also Of Counsel to a personal injury firm.
For the last 11 years he has been an EVP for Mass Torts for Providio and now ARCHER leading settlement administration for most all major mass torts.
Matthew Dolman
Founding Partner
Dolman Law Group

Joseph Dunn
Managing Director
Fortress Investment Group
Joseph Dunn
MANAGING DIRECTOR, CO-CIO LEGAL ASSETS, FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP
Mr. Dunn is a Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group, and Co-CIO of the Fortress Legal Assets business. Mr. Dunn is based in New York and focuses on litigation and legal process related debt and structured equity transactions, including serving on the boards of several legal services companies. Prior to joining Fortress in 2016, Mr. Dunn was a litigator at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and Dontzin Nagy & Fleissig LLP. At both firms, Mr. Dunn represented parties in disputes in U.S. state and federal courts, primarily in securities cases. Mr. Dunn received his B.A. in Economics from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
Fred Fabricant
Managing Partner
Fabricant Rubino Lambrianakos
Fred Fabricant
MANAGING PARTNER, FABRICANT RUBINO LAMBRIANAKOS
Alfred R. Fabricant (Fred) is an experienced first chair trial lawyer who focuses his practice on patent, copyright, trademark and unfair competition matters.
Fred has litigated patent infringement cases in district courts throughout the United States for both patent owners and defendants including cases in the most active courts in Delaware, Texas, California, Illinois and Florida. His cases have involved a large variety of technologies including automotive, semiconductor, audio processing, LED lighting and displays, smartphone handsets, medical devices, electronic ratings systems, copy protection and anti-piracy technology, NFC and radio frequency identification systems, robotic systems, memory and storage devices, software, internet-related method and system patents, universal remote control devices, and optical systems and methods. According to “The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners” published by the IAM1000: “clients say they cannot imagine working with anyone better, hailing (Fabricant’s) outstanding skills of presentation and persuasion in the courtroom.”
Fred has represented clients in patent matters before the International Trade Commission. He has also appeared in more than 100 inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeals Board. Fred has argued numerous appeals before the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Federal, Second and Fourth Circuits where he has represented both appellants and appellees in a variety of matters.
Since 2008. Fred has handled a large number of cases that have been financed, in whole or in part, by litigation funders. He has also represented litigation funds as outside diligence counsel and is frequently recommended by litigation funders to claimants for both lead counsel representation in litigation as well as for IPR work before the PTAB.
In addition to his litigation experience,
Fred routinely acts as a legal counselor and advisor in the negotiation and drafting of patent, trademark and copyright license agreements, joint venture and funding agreements, and other business contracts. Fred also specializes in IP due diligence, freedom to operate analyses and strategies for the management and monetization of IP portfolios, a topic on which he has lectured extensively over the past decade. He advises clients on portfolio acquisitions and development, licensing and enforcement strategies, and litigation financing options.
Education
The University of Illinois Chicago Law School, J.D. (with highest distinction)
The University of Miami (magna cum laude)
Admissions
New York
Arizona
Steve Faries
Partner
Pulaski Kherkher
Steve Faries
PARTNER, PULASKI KHERKHER
Steve Faries is a personal injury plaintiff attorney licensed in Arizona and Texas with experience in litigating mass tort product liability cases from intake to resolution. He has tried cases to jury verdicts in state and federal courts in Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania, and worked up numerous cases that resolved before trial.
Steve’s experience includes court appointment to the Plaintiff Steering Committee and direct support to the Plaintiff Executive Committees in mass tort proceedings. He helps create the liability and scientific strategies of the national case, conducts wide-ranging fact and expert discovery, and all types of case specific bellwether depositions. Steve’s efforts have contributed to successful settlements in multiple pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and product liability litigations.
Since 2022, Steve and his team are responsible for the firm’s Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune docket of thousands of veterans and civilians that suffered devastating injuries from exposure to toxic water on base. He also is the lead attorney responsible for resolving and completing the settlement processes in the multi-defendant Zantac/Ranitidine settlements. Steve insists on applying best practices strategies by integrating workflow processes and technology for efficient docket control.
Before practicing law, Steve was a financial analyst and project manager in space, energy, and financial services industries.
Yvonne Flaherty
Partner
Lawyer Lockridge Grindal Nauen
Yvonne Flaherty
PARTNER AT LOCKRIDGE GRINDAL NAUEN
Yvonne Flaherty is a partner at Lockridge Grindal Nauen and leads the firm’s national mass tort and product liability injury practice. Ms. Flaherty has held numerous court-appointed leadership positions in large-scale, complex litigation involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, herbicides, and other products. She has served on trial teams for class action and complex, single-event cases and is nationally recognized for her experience navigating the nuances of complex litigation. She has also served as settlement counsel, successfully resolving thousands of claims for injured individuals throughout the United States, and on Court-appointed committees to determine the appropriateness of common benefit fees. Outside of the courtroom, Ms. Flaherty serves on the American Association for Justice Executive Committee and holds numerous leadership positions within AAJ.
Wendy Fleishman
Managing Partner
Clancy Fleishman
David Gialanella
Editor-in-Chief
Business of Law and The American Lawyer
David Gialanella
EDITOR IN CHIEF, BUSINESS OF LAW AND THE AMERICAN LAWYER
David Gialanella is Editor-in-Chief of The American Lawyer and Business of Law team at Law.com, where he has spent 16 years in various content team roles. He oversees the Am Law 100/200 and other key Law.com content packages, and leads the Law.com Pro and Law.com Pro Mid-Market platforms. He previously wrote for the ABA Journal and Chicago Sun-Times News Group. He holds master’s degrees from Medill School of Journalism and Pritzker Law at Northwestern University.

Kiley Grombacher
Founding Partner
Bradley/Grombacher LLP
Paul B. Haskel
Partner
Crowell & Moring
Paul B. Haskel
PARTNER, CROWELL & MORING
Paul B. Haskel is co-chair of Crowell’s Financial Services group and a partner in the New York office. Paul is a highly regarded advisor in the area of litigation finance, and a sought after commentator on litigation finance market trends, including in Bloomberg, The American Lawyer, Litigation Finance Journal, andValueWalk. He regularly represents litigation finance leaders in some of the industry’s most significant matters, including complex international deals. Paul advises litigation funders, private equity firms, and multi-strategy hedge fund clients in connection with their investments in funding transactions, including claims monetization and the provision of non-recourse capital to both plaintiffs and law firms. His work includes the diligence, structuring, and papering of these transactions, as well as advice on the management of credit risk, tax efficiency, state common law issues such as champerty and usury, and legal ethics.
Jennifer Hoekstra
Partner
Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz
Jennifer Hoekstra
PARTNER, AYLSTOCK, WITKIN, KREIS & OVERHOLTZ
Jennifer Hoekstra is a partner with Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz, PLLC. She has been involved in complex litigation cases of all forms since 2007. Her passion and expertise lie in Electronically Stored Information and coordinating discovery across multiple defendant litigations. She has earned a solid reputation and plays an integral role in multiple complex litigation cases, practicing in the areas of Pharmaceutical Mass Torts, Defective Device Mass Torts, and other complex litigation. Jennifer is a passionate litigator and has been central to the successful outcome in dozens of MDL bellwether trials over the course of her career with more than $11 Billion in trial verdicts to her credit. Most recently in 2021 and 2022, she served as trial counsel and/or as an integral member of the trial team in all of the sixteen 3M Earplug trials securing more than $300 Million in compensatory damages for military veterans.
Katherine Hoffmann
Founder & CEO
SMART Reviews
Samuel Issacharoff
Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law
NYU Law
Michael London
Founding Partner
Douglas & London
Michael London
FOUNDING PARTNER, DOUGLAS & LONDON
Michael A. London is one of the founding partners of the law firm Douglas & London, P.C., located in downtown New York City. Mr. London obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida, and his Juris Doctor degree from Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, New York. Mr. London is admitted and licensed to practice law in the States of New York and New Jersey, as well as in the United States District Courts for the Eastern District, Southern District, and Western District of New York, as well as the District of New Jersey.
Since obtaining his law degree, he has devoted his entire career to representing consumers and injury victims, primarily in mass tort settings. His practice area in the law has always focused on and continues to focus on, products liability and complex litigation with an emphasis on pharmaceutical and medical device litigation.
Mr. London has been privileged and honored to have been appointed to, and have served, as lead or liaison counsel in some of the largest national mass tort and complex litigations in recent years.
Chris Massaro
CEO
TSEG
Chris Massaro
CEO, TSEG
As CEO of TSEG, Chris has spearheaded the company to new heights in the legal marketing
industry. With over 10 years of experience with digital marketing, Chris has a strong
understanding of what it takes to provide exceptional results and firm growth to attorneys. He
oversees the company’s growth in its operations and sales, as well as managing key accounts
for single-event and mass tort law firms – and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and
Events.
Known for his sharp business acumen and strategic thinking, Chris is always looking for ways to
gain an edge over competitors and stay ahead of industry trends. He believes that by offering
top-notch service and innovative marketing solutions, TSEG can help law firms of all sizes to
grow and thrive in a highly competitive marketplace. In his mind, if we are not innovating, our
competition will, and we are left falling behind.
Under Chris’ leadership, the company has experienced significant growth and success,
expanding its client base and increasing its revenue year after year. But despite his competitive
nature, Chris remains committed to providing the highest level of service to each and every
client, believing that a satisfied client is the key to long-term success in the legal marketing
Industry.
Chris spends most of his spare time with his wife, Alyssa, their adorable daughter, Brooklyn,
and their two dogs Sidney & Whiskey. He enjoys watching and obsessing over his favorite
teams (Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Penguins) as well as playing hockey. He holds a BA
in Business Administration from Concordia University in Austin, TX where he played baseball for
the Tornadoes. He also attended McMurry University his Freshman and Sophomore year,
winning the 2008 ASC baseball championship his freshman year.
Rachel McCarthy
Executive Director & President
Milestone Foundation
Stephen Medlock
Partner
Vinson & Elkins
Stephen Medlock
PARTNER, VINSON & ELKINS
Steve Medlock is an experienced antitrust litigator who brings dedication, intensity, and commercial common sense to his representations of Fortune 500 clients, whether navigating through complex multidistrict class actions or successfully defending clients in grand jury investigations. Clients place their trust in Steve to develop unique and complex antitrust arguments for both defendants and plaintiffs. Steve’s unique mix of plaintiff and defense-side experience allows him to see the issues that exclusive defense-sided practitioners miss in a full range of antitrust matters, including corporate counseling, internal investigations, civil non-merger and criminal cartel investigations, and litigation. In these areas, Steve is known for providing practical advice that business executives can digest. Steve has secured victories for clients in major antitrust class actions and B2B antitrust cases alleging monopolization and attempted monopolization at critical stages, including winning dismissal prior to discovery and prevailing at summary judgment. His depositions and briefs have been quoted in the The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Politico.
Steve is a recognized as a part of the next generation of leadership in the antitrust bar. He currently serves as one of the editors of the forthcoming draft of the tenth edition of Antitrust Law Developments, the preeminent desk reference for antitrust lawyers.
Evan Meyerson
Managing Director
Burford Capital
Evan Meyerson
MANAGING DIRECTOR, BURFORD CAPITAL
Managing Director, Burford Capital
Evan Meyerson is a Managing Director who leads Burford’s US commercial investment team, with responsibility for overseeing the underwriting, origination, and portfolio management functions.
Prior to joining Burford, Evan was a litigator at Paul, Weiss and at Sullivan & Cromwell. His practice focused on complex civil litigation in federal and state court, antitrust, white collar defense, bankruptcy litigation, corporate internal investigations, and government investigations into sanctions, anti-money laundering, and accounting issues. Evan began his career as an analyst at Bain Capital, evaluating venture capital investment opportunities.
Evan graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Harvard National Security Journal. He graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College. He clerked for the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth of the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
Donald Migliori
Executive Member
Motley Rice
Donald Migliori
EXECUTIVE MEMBER, MOTELY RICE LLC
Building on his work in complex asbestos litigation, the historic tobacco lawsuits, and the litigation arising from the September 11 terrorist attacks, Don Migliori has served in leadership roles in some of the country’s most significant state and federal consolidated cases. Known for his thoughtful approach to both litigation and negotiation, he has helped achieve meaningful results.
Most recently, he served as trial counsel for the State of New Mexico in the landmark case against Meta. The jury found Meta liable for violating state consumer protection laws, endangering children’s mental health, and concealing the risks of child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram. As co-lead of the RI state hernia mesh litigation, he worked with MDL leadership to spearhead the 2024 Bard hernia mesh global resolution.
He continues to serve as a key member of the team representing dozens of cities, towns, counties and townships in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacy benefit managers, and serves as co-lead counsel in litigation brought by 9/11 families against alleged terrorist financiers.
Ian Millican
Director, Investments
Contingency Capital
John Morley
Augustus E. Lines Professor of Law
Yale Law School
Andrew Mutter
EVP, Contingent Risk
CAC Specialty
Andrew Mutter
EXECUTIVE VICE PRSIDENT, CAC SPECIALITY
Andrew is an Executive Vice President at CAC and the Global Head of its Contingent Risk Insurance Practice, which has placed more than $6.5 billion in insurance coverage in the contingent risk markets.
Andrew has received numerous accolades, including being individually ranked as a Band 1 Litigation Risk Broker by Chambers & Partners and being named in the IAM 300 Global IP Strategist list.
Andrew’s practice focuses on crafting bespoke solutions for Contingent Risk Insurance, providing strategic certainty around both contingent legal assets and contingent legal liabilities. On the basis of these policies, the Contingent Risk team help clients obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in liquidity, release hundreds of millions of dollars from escrow, and facilitate hundreds of millions of dollars of debt restructuring and refinancing.
Michael Nicolas
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Longford Capital
Michael Nicolas
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR, LONGFORD CAPITAL
Mike is responsible for the portfolio management of Longford Capital, including underwriting, investment selection, and overseeing the efforts of independent attorneys and other professionals as part of Longford Capital’s due diligence process. He is an accomplished attorney with more than 15 years of experience representing a wide array of corporate clients involved in complex litigation throughout the United States, including trial experience in the commercial litigation departments of two prominent national law firms, Neal, Gerber & Eisenberg, LLP and Gardner, Carton & Douglas, LLP (n/k/a Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP). Mike is a frequent speaker on commercial litigation finance, and has presented at numerous industry conferences and events. He is an honors graduate of Northern Illinois University College of Business and Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Ellen Relkin
Partner & Chair of Defective Drugs and Devices
Weitz & Luxenberg
Ellen Relkin
PARTNER & CHAIR OF DEFECTIVE DRUGS AND DEVICES,
WEITZ & LUXENBERG
Ellen Relkin is a partner at Weitz & Luxenberg, P.C. in New York City. She has represented Plaintiffs in complex medical product and toxic tort cases for forty years. She is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Certified Civil Trial Attorney. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Rutgers School of Law.
She has served in many federal and state leadership roles in product liability cases including co-lead counsel in the In Re: Depo-Provera MDL, Exactech Polyethylene MDL, In Re: JUUL Labs MDL, and DePuy Orthopedics ASR MDL. She serves on the Executive Committee in the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, MDL. She is liaison counsel in the New York Coordinated In Re: Depo- Provera Litigation. She is co-lead counsel in the In Re: Ozempic (NAION) New Jersey Multi-County Litigation (MCL), was lead and liaison counsel in the New Jersey In Re: Stryker Rejuvenate/ABG II Modular Hip Litigation MCL where she was a member of the negotiating team for a one billion + settlement compensating 3,000 plaintiffs.
Ms. Relkin is an elected member of the American Law Institute and serves as an Adviser to the Restatement of the Law Third, Torts Miscellaneous Provisions. She serves Board of Governors of the New Jersey Association for Justice, and she is Co-Chair of the Mass Tort Law Section and an active member of the American Association of Justice. In 2025 she received the honor of selection to the Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for Justice.
Byron Reeves
Paul C. Edwards Professor of Communication
Stanford University
Byron Reeves
PAUL C. EDWARDS PROFESSOR OF COMMUNICATION, STANFORD UNIVERSITY
Byron is a Media Psychologist and Professor at Stanford University with affiliations in Communication, Symbolic Systems, and the Human-Centered AI Institute. He is the author of over 200 publications and several patents related to effects of media in marketing, entertainment, politics, and mental health, and he is the author of two award-winning books about computing and media (The Media Equation and Total Engagement).
He is the co-founder of two early-stage startups working on computational media applications in business, and he spent two years working at Microsoft Research developing products related to computer agents.
New in 2026, Byron teaches a course at Stanford about computational simulations of human behavior, including for use in litigation research, and he has co-developed a research platform with Viewpoints.ai that is being used in law, insurance and finance to simulate human jury responses to legal matters.
Ruth Rizkalla
Partner
The Carlson Law Firm
RUTH RIZKALLA
PARTNER, THE CARLSON LAW FIRM
Ruth’s experience in complex litigation has given her a unique edge in strategizing and litigating cases of systemic minor sex abuse that require significant foresight and familiarity with advanced legal principles.
She has leadership background in complex and mass torts litigations and has represented injured victims involving defective products and dangerous drugs and devices. Ruth has spent her over two-decade career representing those injured through severe negligent acts of large corporations.
She has served in numerous leadership positions in several coordinated complex and mass tort proceedings, and has spoken and presented at multiple conferences and seminars.
ANDY ROGERS
Chief Revenue Officer
Shield Legal
SHAYNA E. SACKS
Partner
Napoli Shkolnik
SHAYNA E. SACKS
NAPOLI SHKOLNIK PARTNER, PUBLIC CLIENT GROUP
Ms. Sacks provides experienced representation to individuals, communities, local and state governments in multiple mass torts, including healthcare litigation, defective pharmaceutical and medical device litigation, the opioid crisis, and complex environmental & emerging contaminant litigation. She has served as Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel and a member of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee on product liability multi-district litigations.
Salvatore C. Badala
Partner & GC
Napoli Shkolnik
Ed Scanlan
CEO & Founder
Bridge Legal
Ed Scanlan
CEO & FOUNDER
BRIDGE LEGAL
Ed Scanlan is a serial entrepreneur and litigation technology pioneer who transforms plaintiff-side legal portfolios into scalable, high-yield, risk-adjusted investments for capital partners.
As Founder & CEO of Bridge Legal, Ed built a proprietary, AI-driven operating system that gives law firms and funders complete transparency from lead inception to filing—integrating case validation, workflow automation, and analytics to deliver 10x productivity gains and faster time-to-liquidity on funded matters. The platform empowers firms to capture market share at scale while enabling funders to deploy capital with unprecedented precision and control.
Previously, Ed founded Total Attorneys, scaling it from startup to $30M+ recurring revenue without outside capital, earning spots on the Inc. 500, Crain’s Fast 50, and induction into the Chicagoland Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame. His work has been featured in The New York Times and Inc..
Ed partners with leading litigation funders to co-create portfolios with exceptional merit profiles, predictable outcomes, and durable returns—aligning capital efficiency with access to justice.
Jonathan Selbin
Senior Partner
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein
Jonathan Selbin
SENIOR PARTNER, LIEFF CABRASER HEIMANN & BERNSTEIN
Jonathan D. Selbin is a senior partner in the New York office of Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, where he has practiced for over 30 years, and a long-time member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He has led complex consumer protection, defective products, and sex abuse class action lawsuits in courts around the country against many of the world’s largest corporations and institutions. Together, cases in which Jonathan played a lead role have resulted in court-approved class action settlements with a combined total cash payout to class members in excess of $3.5 billion, plus other relief such as extended and enhanced warranties and implementation of best-practices institutional reforms. He has extensive appellate experience, having argued in the 1st, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits, as well as before state supreme and appellate courts. Jonathan is a leader in the firm’s funding of international consumer protection cases on multiple continents.
Jeffrey B. Simon
Founding Shareholder
Simon Greenstone Panatier
Emily Siegel
Senior Reporter
Bloomberg Law
Emily Siegel
SENIOR REPORTER, BLOOMBERG LAW
Emily Siegel is a senior reporter with Bloomberg Law. She covers litigation finance and writes about anything affecting or intersecting with the industry. She previously worked for NBC News as an investigative reporter. She earned a master’s degree from the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.
Victoria Shannon Sahani
Professor of Law
Boston University School of Law
Hunter J Shkolnik
Partner
Napoli Shkolnik
Hunter Shkolnik
PARTNER, NAPOLI SHKOLNIK
Hunter Shkolnik is a partner of nationally renowned litigation firm Napoli Shkolnik where he leads the firm’s discovery and trial teams. He brings more than 40 years of litigation experience to the representation of government entities in the national opioid cost recovery litigation, mass tort pharmaceutical & medical device litigations and environmental contamination cases.
Mr. Shkolnik has successfully tried bench and jury trials and has argued before numerous state, federal, and appellate courts throughout the country. He currently serves as a chairman, leader, or court-appointed representative on Plaintiff Steering Committees in various drug and other mass torts.
Hunter is a founding board member of the Trial Lawyers of Puerto Rico (TLPR), a trade association bringing together top trial lawyers to share expertise, build partnerships, and to add value to the local Puerto Rico community. A sought-after speaker, he returned as a featured speaker at the Mass Torts Puerto Rico conference in May 2024.
For his numerous legal achievements, Mr. Shkolnik has been recognized by the legal industry. Notably, he was selected by Best Lawyers in America® as a Best Lawyer in the areas of Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions – Plaintiffs, and Product Liability – Plaintiffs; been named to New York Super Lawyers® for 16+ consecutive years; and been included in Law360’s Product Liability Advisory Board.
Ryan Stephen
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Pine Valley Capital Partners
Ryan Stephen
CO-FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER, PINE VALLEY CAPITAL PARTNERS
Mr. Stephen has led, originated, and managed more than $2.5B in private financing transactions since 2009. Prior to co-founding Pine Valley Capital Partners, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Trinity Environmental Services, an oilfield waste management company operating across Texas and New Mexico. Earlier in his career, he originated, structured, and managed private credit investments in the energy sector with Guggenheim Partners in Houston. Mr. Stephen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Abilene Christian University and has extensive experience structuring complex transactions across multiple industries.
Kelsey Stokes
Senior Attorney
The Lanier Law Firm
Kelsey Stokes
SENIOR ATTORNEY, THE LANIER LAW FIRM
Kelsey Stokes is recognized as a national leader in mass personal injury litigation. Kelsey practices primarily in the areas of mass tort litigation, products liability, and complex commercial litigation.
As Co-Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee in multiple Hernia Mesh MDLs (Multi-District Litigation) at the federal level and 3 MCLs (Multi-County Litigation) in New Jersey, the home of Johnson & Johnson, Kelsey has spent countless hours fighting for victims of defective medical devices, ensuring their voices are heard and their suffering acknowledged. Her leadership in the litigation against C.R. Bard and Johnson & Johnson has not only changed lives but has also set a precedent for women in leadership roles within the legal industry.
Kelsey is currently serving as Co-Lead Counsel for the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee for the second largest MDL in the country (MDL No. 2846, In re Davol, Inc./C.R. Bard, Inc., Polypropylene Hernia Mesh Products Liability Litigation in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio). Appointed as Co-Lead Counsel in 2018, the MDL has over 23,000 cases consolidated there. Kelsey served as lead trial counsel for the three bellwether cases tried in MDL 2846. In 2024, as Lead Settlement Counsel for the Bard Hernia Mesh MDL, Kelsey Stokes successfully negotiated a path to resolution for over 30,000 plaintiffs. Kelsey currently serves as Administering Counsel for the Bard resolution and spends countless hours guiding plaintiffs’ lawyers across the country.
In addition to her leadership roles at the federal level, Kelsey Stokes was appointed to lead three New Jersey state court consolidated actions against Johnson & Johnson and Ethicon, Inc.: MCL 627, In re Physiomesh Litigation; MCL 630, In Re: Proceed Mesh Litigation; and MCL 633, In re Prolene Hernia System Mesh Litigation. Kelsey was also elected Co‑Chair of the American Association for Justice Hernia Mesh Litigation Group by her peers, where she has served for over seven years.
In addition to her responsibilities with the hernia mesh litigation, Kelsey was also appointed to the Phenylephrine Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee. She serves as Science & Expert Committee Co-Chair, as well as a Discovery Co-Chair for the litigation.
Prior to leading the hernia mesh docket, Attorney Kelsey Stokes played an integral role in litigating transvaginal mesh cases to a successful resolution. Her work in the various transvaginal mesh MDLs gave her a wealth of knowledge overlapping with the knowledge required to successfully litigate hernia mesh cases.
Kelsey has regular speaking engagements, sharing the knowledge she has gained managing MDLs as well as studying the science and legal issues applicable to medical device and pharmaceutical litigation.
Through the course of her career, Kelsey has taken hundreds of depositions, including depositions of corporate witnesses, expert witnesses, and treating physicians. Kelsey has also defended the leading experts in their fields as well as hundreds of plaintiffs injured by various medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs. She regularly argues at hearings throughout the country and coordinates large-scale briefing on behalf of the MDLs she leads.
Early in her career, Kelsey managed a large GranuFlo docket from case filing to resolution, successfully navigating clients through the settlement claims process. In addition to the above litigations, Kelsey Stokes performed considerable work on the Wright Hip and Accutane Litigations as well as Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), in which she was trial counsel in the first TRT trial in Cook County, Illinois in 2017.
Kelsey’s practice also includes complex commercial litigation in federal and state court, and arbitration, resulting in multimillion-dollar settlements and verdicts. Examples include arbitrations where she represented healthcare providers in contractual and payment disputes with insurers; a massive Ponzi scheme; and an off-shore commercial oil dispute. Attorney Kelsey Stokes’s experience also extends to catastrophic aviation accidents.
Education & Memberships
Kelsey Stokes earned a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, where she served as Chief Managing Editor of the Journal of Consumer & Commercial Law.
Kelsey is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Northern, Western, Eastern, and Southern Districts of Texas, as well as the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Circuits. She is a member of the American Association for Justice, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and Houston Trial Lawyers Association.
Alexandra Walsh
Shareholder
Anapol Weiss
Alexandra Walsh
SHAREHOLDER, ANAPOL WEISS
Alexandra Walsh is a shareholder at Anapol Weiss in Washington, DC. Alex leads an elite team of litigators representing plaintiffs in national litigations that focus primarily on the intersection of technology and sexual exploitation and assault. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Alex was honored to serve as clerk to Judge Merrick Garland on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit and Justice Stephen Breyer on the United States Supreme Court. She then spent two decades defending corporate clients before founding Walsh Law, a plaintiffs’ side boutique, which merged with Anapol in 2024.
Alex recently secured a judgement for the plaintiff in the first bellwether trial against Uber, Inc for failure to protect passengers from sexual assault. She has also been named co-leader of a national MDL holding Roblox responsible for sexual exploitation of minors by predators on the gaming platform. Alex is particularly proud to represent hundreds of women and men who survived sexual assault while in the custody of juvenile detention systems around the country. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and four children and serves on the boards of two local groups providing legal support and financial guidance to underprivileged families.
Will Weisman
Director – Commercial Litigation, Corporate Counsel
Parabellum Capital
R. Brent Wisner
Managing Partner
Wisner Baum
Boris Ziser
Global Head of Structured Finance, CLOs and Alternative Assets
McDermott Will & Schulte
Boris Ziser
GLOBAL HEAD OF STRUCTURED FINANCE, CLOS AND ALTERNATIVE ASSETS, MCDERMOTT WILL & SCHULTE
Boris Ziser is McDermott’s Global Head of Structured Finance, CLOs and Alternative Assets and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He advises clients on asset-backed lending and securitization, warehouse facilities, secured financings, specialty finance lending, and other esoteric finance transactions.
With more than 30 years of experience, he works across a wide range of asset classes, including life settlements, litigation funding, equipment leases, structured settlements, lottery receivables, timeshare loans, merchant cash advances, home equity investments (HEI), cell towers, intellectual property, insurance-related cash flows, and others.
He also represents investors, lenders, hedge funds, private equity funds and finance companies in acquisitions and dispositions of asset portfolios, as well as financings secured by those portfolios.
2026 agenda
Get updates and enquire about speaking below.
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If you’d like to know as soon as more information is available, please join the Dealmakers email list below.
Kick off with a full day dedicated to Mass Torts, examining the forces reshaping the market – from litigation strategy and claimant acquisition to capital, technology, and the evolving relationship between firms and funders
DAY ONE: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH
8:00 – 8:50 AM: Registration & Breakfast
8:50 – 9:00 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:00 - 9:45 AM: STATE OF THE MARKET - TACKLING TORTS IN 2026: WHAT’S SHAPING THE MARKET & WHERE IS IT MOVING?
- The cases, market shifts, trends, and developments that shaped the market in 2026
- How regulation, defence strategies, timelines, and capital pressures are changing deployment decisions
- Where the next opportunities are emerging—and what firms and funders should prepare for
Speakers:
- Max Bernstein, Senior Vice President, CAC Specialty (moderator)
- Andy Birchfield, Mass Torts Section Head, Beasley Allen
- Tina Bullock, Managing Partner, Bullock Legal Group
- Hunter J. Shkolnik, Partner, Napoli Shkolnik
9:45 - 10:30 AM: PANEL DISCUSSION - BACKING THE RIGHT CASE: WHAT MAKES A MASS TORT VIABLE?
- The science, claimant profile, and procedural foundations that make a mass tort viable
- How leadership firms assess operational complexity, litigation strategy, and execution risk
- What funders need to see before committing capital—and the warning signs that should stop a deal
Speakers:
- Scott DeNardo, EVP, Mass Torts, ARCHER Systems (moderator)
- Jennifer Hoekstra, Partner, Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz
- Michael London, Founding Partner, Douglas & London
- Donald Migliori, Partner, Motley Rice
- Ian Millican, Director, Investments, Contingency Capital
- Tobi Millrood, Partner & Chair of Mass Torts, Kline & Specter
10:30 – 11:00 AM: Networking Break
- How MDLs, JCCPs, state courts, and targeted litigations shape leverage, duration, and settlement dynamics
- The shift from scale-first strategies towards smaller, faster, and more focused cases
- How firms and funders are diversifying portfolios to manage procedural risk and return timelines
Speakers:
- Rachel McCarthy, President & Executive Director, Milestone Foundation (moderator)
- Jayne Conroy, Shareholder, Simmons Hanly Conroy
- Andy Rogers, Chief Revenue Officer, Shield Legal
- Jeffrey B. Simon, Founding Shareholder, Simon Greenstone Panatier
This session is by invitation only. To request an invite, contact:
12:00 - 1:45 PM: Networking Lunch
- Where AI is already improving case management, claimant workflows, and litigation execution
- How courts and regulators are responding to AI use—and where judicial risk is emerging
- The governance, validation, and transparency needed to deploy AI responsibly at scale
Speakers:
- Salvatore C. Badala, Partner & GC, Napoli Shkolnik (moderator)
- Asim Badaruzzaman, Partner, Sbaiti & Company
- Davis Cooper, Cooper Masterman
- Matthew Dolman, Founding Partner, Dolman Law Group
3:00 - 3:30 PM: Networking Break
3:30 - 4:15 PM: PANEL DISCUSSION - THE ACQUISITION ARMS RACE: LEADS, COST, COMPETITION, & FRAUD
- How rising costs, competition, and platform restrictions are reshaping claimant acquisition
- What separates a viable claimant pipeline from inflated, low-quality, or fraudulent inventory
- The transparency and alignment needed across firms, marketers, aggregators, and funders
Speakers:
- Wendy Fleishman, Managing Partner, Clancy Fleishman
- Katherine Hoffmann, CEO & Founder, SMART Reviews
- Chris Massaro, CEO, TSEG
- Alexandra Walsh, Shareholder, Anapol Weiss
4:15 - 5:00 PM: THE DEALMAKERS’ DEBATE - FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE: HAS INSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL CHANGED MASS TORTS?
- Has institutional capital expanded access to justice—or distorted market incentives?
- Have funding structures, refinancing, and acquisition strategies improved mass torts—or increased risk?
- Is today’s funding model sustainable—or does the market need to reset?
Speakers:
- Yvonne Flaherty, Partner, Lockridge Grindal Nauen
- Ellen Relkin, Partner & Chair of Defective Drugs and Devices, Weitz & Luxenberg
- Boris Ziser, Global Head of Structured Finance, CLOs & Alternative Assets, McDermott, Will, & Schulte
9:00 AM – 5:30 PM:
ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS
Participants have the option to schedule 30-minute meetings utilising our desktop or mobile app.
Registered attendees will receive an invitation to login to the app the week prior to the event.
5:00 - 7:00 PM: Networking Reception & Close of Day One
DAY TWO: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16
7:30 - 8:45 AM: Registration & Breakfast
8:45 – 9:00 AM: Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:00 - 9:30 AM: KEYNOTE ADDRESS - THE PRICE OF JUSTICE: KEN FEINBERG ON FUNDING, FAIRNESS AND RESOLUTION
In this timely conversation, Feinberg will share his perspective on how funding is reshaping pathways to resolution, what information matters in settlement negotiations, and what safeguards are needed to preserve trust as legal finance continues to mature.
Kenneth R. Feinberg, Mediator & Arbitrator, Law Offices of Kenneth R. Feinberg
In discussion with Emily Siegel, Senior Reporter, Bloomberg Law
9:30 - 10:20 AM: STATE OF THE MARKET - LEGAL FINANCE 2026: THE MARKET SHIFTS DRIVING CAPITAL, STRATEGY AND DECISIONS
- The economic, geopolitical, and regulatory forces reshaping legal finance in 2026
- The changing capital stack—how direct institutional entrants, banks, and new structures are reshaping competition and deployment
- How legal finance could evolve as capital becomes deeper, cheaper, and more specialized
Speakers:
- David Gialanella, Editor-in-Chief, Business of Law and The American Lawyer (moderator)
- Evan Meyerson, Managing Director, Burford Capital
- Michael Nicolas, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Longford Capital
- Elena S. Rey, Partner, Head of Litigation Funding & Co-Head of European Special Situations, Brown Rudnick
- Ryan Stephen, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Pine Valley Capital Partners
10:20 – 10:50 AM: Networking Break
10:50 - 11:20 AM: FEATURED INTERVIEW - INSIDE THE SILICON VALLEY SUPER TRIAL: ELON MUSK V SAM ALTMAN
Steven Molo, Founding Partner, MoloLamken
This session is by invitation only. To request an invite, contact:
11:20 - 12:10 PM: THE DEALMAKERS’ RUNDOWN - REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS & THE SHIFTING RISK PROFILE
- How state-by-state regulation is changing where, with whom, and on what terms legal finance deals can be done
- The impact on structuring, diligence, pricing, disclosure, and capital deployment across the market
- How firms, funders, and advisers can keep transactions moving as regulatory risk becomes a commercial risk
Speakers:
- Bryan F. Aylstock, Founding Partner, Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz
- Victoria Shannon Sahani, Professor of Law, Boston University School of Law
- Boris Ziser, Global Head of Structured Finance, CLOs & Alternative Assets, McDermott, Will, & Schulte
12:10 - 1:00 PM: IN PERSPECTIVE - VIEW FROM THE TOP: LAW FIRM LEADERS ON AI, MSOS & THE NEW BUSINESS OF LAW
- How AI is changing law firm operations, decision-making, and client delivery
- What growing investor interest and MSO models mean for ownership, control, and independence
- How firm leaders are reshaping their business models for the next era of legal practice
Speakers:
- Ed Scanlan, CEO & Founder, Bridge Legal (moderator)
- Hugh Carlson, CEO, Three Crowns
- Melinda R. Coolidge, U.S. Managing Partner, Hausfeld
- David Cunningham, Chief Innovation Officer, ReedSmith
- Kiley Grombacher, Founding Partner, Bradley/Grombacher
1:00 – 2:45 PM: Networking Lunch
2:45 PM – 5:30 PM: BREAKOUT SESSIONS
IN FOCUS MASS TORTS
IN FOCUS DEALMAKING
As law firms explore external investment, ABS and MSO models are becoming one of the most consequential—and contested—developments in the US legal market.
These facilitated, peer-to-peer working groups will examine:
- Regulation & structuring: navigating state-by-state restrictions on ownership, fee-sharing, management rights, and revenue models
- Capital & control: defining the boundary between commercial oversight and professional independence
- The commercial case: assessing whether external capital can deliver sustainable growth, stronger operations, and aligned long-term returns
Co-Facilitators:
- Matthew Dolman, Founding Partner, Dolman Law Group
- Shayna E. Sacks, Partner, Napoli Shkolnik
- R. Brent Wisner, Managing Partner, Wisner Baum
- How firms and funders can manage performance, communication and changing expectations after a deal is completed
- What options are available when the relationship or funding structure no longer works, including refinancing and restructuring
- How secondaries and other liquidity solutions can create an exit, transfer exposure or reset the parties’ positions
Speakers:
- Fred Fabricant, Managing Partner, Fabricant Rubino Lambrianakos
- Paul B. Haskel, Partner, Crowell & Moring
3:30 - 4:00 PM: Networking Break
- When refinancing remains viable—and when deeper restructuring is required
- How firms and funders can stabilise distress as timelines lengthen and assumptions change
- What happens when recovery is no longer possible—and whether the market needs a formal framework
Speakers:
- Jeff Cohen, Partner and Managing Director, Contingency Capital
- Ruth Rizkalla, Partner, The Carlson Law Firm
- Why insurance is becoming integral to legal finance structures—and what capital providers now expect it to protect
- How coverage, pricing, and insurer diligence are reshaping underwriting, economics, and capital deployment
- What happened to JPI—and which products and risk-transfer models could define the market’s next phase
Speakers:
- Tom Baker, William Maul Measey Professor of Law, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (moderator)
- Andrew Mutter, EVP, Contingent Risk, CAC Specialty
This session is by invitation only. To request an invite, contact:
- What firms should report to capital providers—and which metrics genuinely inform decisions
- Creating consistent definitions, validation standards, and accountability across portfolios
- How better reporting can strengthen trust, identify risk earlier, and improve funding relationships
Speakers:
- Samuel Issacharoff, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law, NYU Law (moderator)
- Brooke Cohen, Founding and Managing Partner, Cohen Hirsch
- Steve Faries, Partner, Pulaski Kherkher
- Kelsey Stokes, Senior Attorney, The Lanier Law Firm
- What separates a source of capital from a genuine strategic partner
- How to assess track record, flexibility, alignment, and execution—not just pricing
- Where brokers and advisers add value in finding, diligencing, and negotiating with the right funder
Speakers:
- John Morley, Augustus E. Lines Professor of Law, Yale Law School (moderator)
- Cesar Bello, Partner, Director of Litigation Finance, Corbin Capital Partners
- Alfonso Chan, Partner, Cahill
- Jonathan Selbin, Senior Partner, Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein
9:00 AM – 5:30 PM:
ONE-TO-ONE MEETINGS
Participants have the option to schedule 30-minute meetings utilising our desktop or mobile app.
Registered attendees will receive an invitation to login to the app the week prior to the event.
5:30 - 6:30 PM: Networking Reception & Close of Conference
THANK YOU TO OUR
2026 SPONSORS & PARTNERS
The 2026 program is in development. Get updates and Inquire about sponsoring in 2026 below.
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If you’d like to know as soon as more information is available, please join the Dealmakers email list below.
Platinum sponsor
gold sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION
read more about OUR
2026 SPONSORS
Platinum sponsor

Napoli Shkolnik is a law firm with an international presence providing representation in large-scale litigation primarily in the areas of class actions, product liability and pharmaceutical matters, complex commercial litigation, mass torts, and environmental law. With a client-focused approach, our dedicated team of attorneys and staff have a track record of success achieving results for individuals, as well as municipalities and governmental entities. Our lawyers are consistently industry recognized, notably by Super Lawyers®, The National Trial Lawyers, and Best Lawyers® in America and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America. Headquartered in New York, the firm has additional offices across the United States, as well as affiliate offices in Puerto Rico and Canada, affording the resources and reach to effectively pursue difficult cases and win favorable outcomes for our clients.
GOLD sponsors

CAC is now part of The Baldwin Group. Together, we deliver greater specialization, expanded capabilities, and deeper expertise to help clients navigate today’s evolving risk landscape. By combining CAC’s industry and product expertise with Baldwin’s national platform and distribution network, we provide seamless access to a full suite of risk management solutions. Our unified team serves clients across retail, specialty, reinsurance (including London and Bermuda), and MGA platforms.

IMG is a legal marketing agency specializing in mass tort and motor vehicle accident (MVA) campaigns. With over 10 years of experience, IMG Legal has partnered with law firms across the United States, delivering end-to-end digital marketing solutions that connect qualified claimants with experienced legal teams. IMG is recognized for developing high-performing, data-driven campaigns tailored to each firm's objectives, contributing to more than $500 million in legal settlements. The agency supports attorneys handling cases involving defective medical devices, dangerous products, corporate negligence, and motor vehicle accidents. Through its strategic approach, deep industry expertise, and proven track record, IMG has earned a strong reputation as a trusted legal marketing partner—helping law firms reach those in need while expanding access to justice for injured individuals.

TSEG gets law firms cases. With 17+ years in legal marketing and hundreds of millions in managed ad spend, we've built mass tort campaigns for some of the most aggressive firms in the country. We handle everything - strategy, creative, paid media, landing pages, and intake - so your team focuses on signing clients, not chasing leads.

SMART Reviews developed an industry leading real-time fraud detection system that safeguards mass tort investments. Think of us as insurance for your capital. We operate within the agreed upon return window to maximize the number of real, compensable cases you get for your money. With more than a decade of expertise—including case validation, plaintiff fact sheets, record collection, metrics, and post-settlement reviews—we safeguard investments, strengthen outcomes, and deliver stronger returns. Invest SMARTer.
SILVER sponsorS

ARCHER Systems, LLC (“ARCHER”) is the leading provider of comprehensive litigation-related settlement solutions including pre-settlement support, claims administration, healthcare lien resolution, and qualified settlement fund administration services to law firms across the United States. We have a particular focus on applying pre and post-settlement expertise to a broad range of mass torts, including product liability, pharmaceutical, medical device, mass disaster, and toxic tort/exposure cases.

Bridge Legal is the AI-enabled infrastructure layer and operating system powering plaintiff law firms and litigation capital providers. Bridge Legal combines people, process, data, and technology to support claimant acquisition, intake, medical record workflows, plaintiff fact sheets, case development, fund administration, and portfolio intelligence. Through its platform, Bridgify, Bridge Legal delivers the operational foundation and data visibility needed to manage litigation assets at scale. Today, Bridge Legal supports more than $2 billion in litigation-related assets across its platform.

Contingency Capital is a global asset management business focused on credit oriented legal assets. Contingency Capital was founded in November 2020 by Brandon Baer. We invest in legal assets where the primary driver of value is a legal, tax or regulatory process. Our investment team is comprised of credit and distressed investors who are also former transactional attorneys and litigators. Collectively we have decades of multifaceted experience investing in legal assets.

The D. E. Shaw group is a global investment and technology development firm with more than $90 billion in investment and committed capital as of June 1, 2026, and offices in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since our founding in 1988, we have earned an international reputation for successful investing based on innovation, careful risk management, and the quality and depth of our staff.

Leading organizations turn to global law firm McDermott Will & Schulte for a better way to address legal challenges, connect with those at the forefront, and drive stronger outcomes. Working across more than 20 offices globally, our 1,750+ lawyers act on data-driven insights, deep relationships, and unmatched industry experience to deliver on our commitment of Always Better.
BRONZE SPONSORS

Consumer Attorney Marketing Group (CAMG) is the nation's largest fully-integrated legal marketing and case acquisition agency. Building on that platform, CAMG Capital Connect offers a turn-key litigation finance program for mass tort and single-event matters — giving investors deal-by-deal control over capital deployment, access to premier handling firms, and transparent reporting throughout the case lifecycle.

Legal Case Administration Constructed for Complex Casework Built on 85 years of combined experience, Monumental Legal Services provides comprehensive back-office administration for law firms handling mass torts, class actions, mass arbitrations, personal injury claims, and other complex legal matters. A new era in Managed Legal Services with Monumental.

Winning Through Innovation: Strategic Solutions in Personal Injury, Mass Tort, and Lien Resolution. Torticity transforms your practice with our proprietary technology-driven services, offering real-time visibility of case progress and seamless support from post-intake to the time of settlement. The future of legal services, powered by cutting-edge technology and comprehensive support, is here to help you deliver the win.
supporting organization
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VENUE & ACCOMMODATIONS
EVENTI & SECOND
Experience the 3rd Annual LF Dealmakers Mass Torts in Manhattan’s Chelsea district.
This year, the forum returns to the sophisticated Kimpton Hotel Eventi (851 6th Avenue) and the adjoining SECOND event space (849 6th Avenue), together occupying an entire NYC city block. With sleek modern design, soaring ceilings, and floor-to-ceiling windows, both venues offer breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline — the perfect setting for high-level networking, dealmaking, and strategic discussion.
A limited number of premium rooms at Kimpton Hotel Eventi are available at a special rate of $649++ per night. Rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis and are expected to sell out quickly. Reservation details will be shared with confirmed registrants.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
GENERAL FAQs
The 3rd Annual LF Dealmakers Mass Torts will be held on September 15-16, 2026 at the Kimpton Hotel Eventi & SECOND event space. This event is colocated with the 9th LF Dealmakers Annual. You may find additional information regarding the venue on our Venue page.
Registration for the 3rd Annual LF Dealmakers Mass Torts will be open soon. Sign up for event updates to be among the first to know when registration becomes available.
No. When registration opens, you will have the option of registering for one or both events.
All registered attendees will have access to the following:
- Admission to main conference
- Networking functions including breaks, lunches, and receptions
- Online event platform and mobile app to schedule 1:1 meetings and direct messaging
- Recorded sessions after the event to view on-demand
The LF Dealmakers Mass Torts brings together a select group of leaders in the business community to address critical issues impacting the litigation finance and mass torts sectors. In order to ensure the event has balanced representation from market leaders and to maintain an optimal networking dynamic, we have instituted an approval process for all registrations.
We actively seek thought leaders and senior executives with experience and decision-making power within their respective organizations. We review individual registrations based on organizational profile, level of seniority as represented by job title, biographical information, and referral source.
We consider the type of organization, aiming to achieve a balanced representation of litigation funders, plaintiff’s firms, strategic advisors, and other key stakeholders.
Additionally, we look to include perspectives from those that have not previously attended the event, as well as historically underrepresented groups.
Once you have completed your online registration, you will receive an email notification regarding the status of your application within 48 business hours.
Due to capacity limits at our event venue, along with our aim to achieve optimal dynamics for discussion and networking, we must be selective with registration approvals. If your registration was declined, we may have reached venue capacity, or it’s possible that you did not meet the criteria for attendance. We encourage you to reapply the following year.
Alternatively, you may be offered a place on the waiting list if we’ve reached our maximum capacity for your organization type (e.g., law firm, advisor, licensing company, etc.) Additionally, we limit the number of attendees per non-sponsoring organization to two individuals, so you may be offered a place on the waiting list if your organization has already registered two individuals.
Once you submit your registration, a hold will be placed on your card provided during registration. If your registration is approved, your payment will be processed using the credit card information you provide below.
If your registration is declined or you are waitlisted, your credit card will not be charged.
We welcome sponsorship inquiries and discussions regarding how to get involved in the event. Please contact us directly at info(at)dealmakersforums.com to request our prospectus which includes detailed information regarding sponsorship packages and opportunities to get involved in the event. We look forward to hearing from you.
We welcome speaking proposals from industry thought leaders and senior executives. Feel free to submit your proposal via this form. Please include as much detail as possible regarding your interest and relevant experience. Please note that we do not accept sales pitches or allow them at our events.
Leveraging our experience examining complex markets, we engage in a rigorous market-based research process to develop our program content, including identification of session topics, discussion points, and speakers. We rely on the expertise and valuable insights of our community, including industry advisors, sponsors, and partners in this process.
Registered participants will be invited to the 1:1 meetings platform via email approximately 1-2 weeks prior to the event start date, at which time all participants may begin scheduling their meetings.
Our 1-to-1 meetings feature is available to all registered attendees. You may request meetings with anyone attending the event, however, meetings are only confirmed and assigned a meeting location once the invited party accepts the request.
Cancellations received before 30 days prior to the event start date will receive a full refund minus processing fees. Cancellations received after this time will receive a credit with Dealmakers Forums that can be used toward a future event. No-shows will not be issued a refund or a credit.
To cancel your registration, contact us at registration(at)dealmakersforums.com with your request.
Substitutions are allowed at any time prior to the start of the event, but the substituting individual must be approved for attendance. If the individual is not approved, the registration will be considered a cancellation subject to the cancellation policy above.
Contact us at registration(at)dealmakersforums.com with your substitution request.
You may reach out to us at info(at)dealmakersforums.com or +1.914.365.7732. We look forward to hearing from you!

