Litigation Finance: Lowering the Cost of Doing Business

David J. Kerstein is a litigator with fifteen years of experience handling complex commercial disputes before becoming an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel for Bentham IMF. Dave acts as a resource for companies and individuals seeking to mitigate risk or achieve their business objectives with non-recourse funding of commercial lawsuits. He also helps law firms use portfolios of litigation as collateral for financing.

Dave manages investments from the initial sourcing and review of the opportunity through diligence, funding and resolution. He serves a strategic advisory role in the cases funded under his direction, providing consultation as needed, without controlling the course of the litigation. His guidance is drawn from experience representing clients in cases involving breach of contract, fraud and securities fraud, corporate control contests, trade secrets, employment disputes and other matters. Dave is a valuable resource for lawyers representing parties on either side of a case. He litigated on behalf of both plaintiffs, for whom he has recovered substantial sums or injunctive relief, 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 in a variety of matters across the United States and internationally.

Dave earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1999 where he graduated as a Toll Scholar, and his B.A. from the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a Benjamin Franklin Scholar and received a degree in diplomatic history.

Stephen Weisbrod is a founding partner of Weisbrod Matteis & Copley PLLC. The firm is one of only ten firms in the United States named by The National Law Journal to its 2014 Litigation Boutiques Hot List.

Mr. Weisbrod is an experienced trial lawyer who represents clients in financial and commercial disputes, corporate bankruptcy and insolvency matters, and criminal investigations and trials. Most of his clients are businesses and individuals seeking payment from insurers, banks, investment managers, professionals, suppliers, or other parties liable for breach of contract, fraud, or some other kind of misconduct or breach of duty. He has represented companies, creditors’ committees, post-bankruptcy litigation trusts, individual directors and officers, and other individuals and entities in insurance, banking, securities and other types of litigation.

Mr. Weisbrod has tried more than 25 cases in six states and the District of Columbia. His clients at trial have included a defendant accused of the shooting of a rival gang member and attempting to kill a police officer (the defendant was acquitted), as well as an asset manager seeking to recover more than $57 million that it lost when a highly rated Canadian insurance company defaulted on its commercial paper (the case settled before closing arguments). He also has represented many individuals and companies in grand jury and regulatory investigations.

Mr. Weisbrod has written and lectured extensively on insurance and financial litigation. He has been invited to speak at the American Bankruptcy Institute, the American Bar Association Business Law Section, the American Conference Institute, the Consumer Rights Litigation Conference of the National Consumer Law Center, the District of Columbia Bar, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, HB Litigation Conferences, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the New York City Bar Association, and elsewhere.

He is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard Law School.