Debtwire Restructuring Forum Miami 2023
Debtwire's Miami Forum returns for its second year!
JW Marriott, 1109 Brickell Ave, Miami
06
Dec
Panel: Is litigation financing reshaping the dynamics of restructurings?
With a 36% uptick in filings according to Debtwire, corporate bankruptcies continue to shape the business landscape and the role of litigation financing has gained prominence. As Chapter 11 bankruptcies continue to pile up, plaintiffs can make claims against third parties who may have caused or worsened distress. However, as an increasingly fertile ground for investing in legal claims, third-party litigators have been lining up to help creditors pursue claims in notable cases including General Motors Corp and Sears Holdings Corp. This panel will provide insights into how litigation financing is reshaping the dynamics of corporate restructurings. Speakers will discuss:
- What is driving the increase in litigation financing now compared to the low levels seen in 2008’s financial crisis?
- How is litigation financing enabling distressed companies to pursue legal claims they might otherwise be unable to afford? How can creditors recoup interests through litigation financing?
- How transparent are the roles of litigation funders in bankruptcy cases?
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SpeakersNathaniel Catez Executive Director MOELIS & COMPANY
Joseph Dunn Managing Director FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP, FORTRESS LEGAL ASSETS
Emily Slater Managing Director BURFORD CAPITAL
Ken Epstein Investment Manager & Legal Counsel OMNI BRIDGEWAY
Catherine Corey Global Head of Restructuring Data DEBTWIRE
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Nathaniel Catez is an Executive Director specializing in Dispute Advisory at Moelis & Company, an international investment banking and financial advisory firm, and is based in New York.
Mr. Catez has over fifteen years of trading and investment banking experience, focused on advising companies and / or their stakeholders in a wide range of risk advisory and dispute-related situations across a broad range of industries, including facilitating access to legal funding for single cases and portfolios of claims, assisting with litigation support, providing financial advice related to settlement negotiations and enforcement proceedings, and designing and executing claim monetization solutions.
Mr. Catez received a B.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Ecole Centrale Paris in France, and a M.S. degree in Mathematics in Finance from New York University in New York.
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 Investment Committee of the Fortress Legal Assets Fund. 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.
Emily Slater is a Managing Director and a senior member of the US commercial underwriting group responsible for assessing and structuring investments in high-value commercial litigation, and for identifying high-value investments in the marketplace.
Ken Epstein is an Investment Manager and Legal Counsel at Omni Bridgeway, responsible for leading the company’s US initiatives in bankruptcy and insolvency-related matters. For over 20 years, he has successfully combined legal and finance expertise to help solve problems and add value for companies, lenders, and investors.
Ken works closely with individuals, corporations, and law firms to provide funding and risk management strategies for distinct claims or claim portfolios. Ken has extensive experience advising chapter 11 debtors, creditors and estate representatives in complex debt restructurings and insolvency disputes. Many of Ken’s current matters involve cross-border judgment enforcement and monetization for creditors.
Ken joined Omni Bridgeway in 2017 from MBIA where he was managing director and a cross-disciplinary executive tasked with leading workout/turnaround projects in the restructuring and remediation group. He successfully led numerous high-profile, financially and legally complex, creditor-side restructurings including the bankruptcy of the City of Detroit. These cases often involved novel legal issues, were precedent setting and required litigation, negotiation, and other value-enhancing strategies to resolve. He began his career as a lawyer in the financial restructuring group of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he also envisioned and led a first-of-its-kind program to connect families of 9-11 victims with pro bono legal representation.
Ken has taught bankruptcy law as an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School and has served as a panelist and author on bankruptcy-related topics. He has an undergraduate accounting degree and earned his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School in 2000, where he graduated cum laude. Ken is recognized in the Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders – Third Party Funding Guide (2020 - 2021) and LawDragon Global Restructuring Advisors & Consultants Guide (2020).