Post Type Description
Steven Molo, one of the country’s leading courtroom advocates, is a founding partner of the national litigation boutique MoloLamken. He represents corporations, boards, funds, investors, inventors, and individuals in complex business litigation, white collar criminal and regulatory matters, and IP litigation. His client base is international.
Emily Slater is a Managing Director with responsibility for assessing and underwriting legal risk across a broad range of practice areas and for identifying high-value investments in the marketplace. Emily has nearly a decade of experience structuring and underwriting legal finance deals and has played a significant role in building Burford’s globally recognized, industry-leading investment and underwriting processes. She has assessed thousands of cases involving billions of dollars of legal finance investment.
Emily speaks frequently about legal finance in the media and at events, including those organized by AIRA, the American Bar Association, ICCA, NYSBA and The Knowledge Group.
Four-time successful entrepreneur and 15-year corporate and banking lawyer. I left the practice of law to start AltaClaro and transform the way lawyers gain and share expertise.
Having been on both sides of this equation in a variety of settings, I was personally fed up with the status quo. There needs to be a better way: Professional education for lawyers needs to be meaningful, dynamic and experiential – and everyone needs to have access to it. Experts need to have a better way to get in front of their target audience. AltaClaro is making all of this is possible through technology and digital transformation.
I am truly grateful to serve our amazing team, clients and partners at AltaClaro. Every individual has a DNA filled heart, talent, and humility. Everyone is a leader and a constant learner.
Kate Boyd joined Validity as Chief Engagement Officer in 2018, a role focused on how teamwork, client-focus and innovation can improve the way the legal system works for lawyers, law firms and their clients.
After 15 years working in business development and technology adoption roles at leading global law firms White & Case and Shearman & Sterling, Kate spent four years working in client-facing roles with leading legal tech companies HighQ, Neota Logic and Kira Systems. During this time, Kate was able to partner with the most innovative national and international law firms to help them understand and adopt transformational technology to deliver better client service.
Kate graduated from Columbia University and earned her MBA from New York University Stern School of Business. She is also a mom, a certified developer, a sailor and a geek.
Maddi Azpiroz is a founder and Managing Director of ClaimTrading Ltd, an independent brokerage firm that arranges funding for litigation/arbitration and monetization of judgments/awards. She was previously legal counsel with a litigation and distressed debt fund; practiced international dispute resolution with a law firm; and served as an official in the European Commission. She was trained at Columbia, Leuven, Brussels and Deusto universities.
A former federal prosecutor and investment banker, Barry Kamar draws on his significant experience in courtroom trials and corporate finance to help Westfleet’s clients assess and navigate litigation finance opportunities.
Mr. Kamar served for approximately 10 years with the United States Department of Justice and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. As an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of New Jersey, Mr. Kamar was Chief of the Public Protection Unit and spent much of his time conducting jury trials in federal court. Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr. Kamar served as a senior counsel in the New York office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, where he investigated and prosecuted cases involving financial fraud and other violations of the federal securities laws. His decade of public service not only provides Westfleet’s clients with the insights of an experienced trial lawyer but also reflects Westfleet’s commitment to integrity, transparency, and conflict-free advice.
Mr. Kamar also applies his technical expertise in corporate finance and commercial litigation to advise Westfleet’s clients. First as an economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers and then as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley & Co., Mr. Kamar advised corporate clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, and other strategic transactions. After obtaining his law degree, Mr. Kamar joined the New York law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP, where he litigated large commercial cases, including matters involving antitrust, securities, and breach-of-contract.
Mr. Kamar earned his B.A. in Economics, cum laude, from the University of Texas and his J.D., with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law, where he also edited the Texas Journal of Business Law. He is fluent in Arabic and proficient in Spanish.
John Ray has been a leading consultant to the Mass Tort industry for over a decade. His unique skill sets make him well suited to both teaching and consulting in the Mass Tort arena.
As a 21 year old graduate of Brenau University in Atlanta, John graduated Magna Cum Laude and started a pharmaceutical and medical device company right out of school, selling it in an eight figure deal when he was 35.
John’s tenure in the pharmaceutical and medical device field allowed him to gain an in-depth understanding of FDA regulatory matters, as well as, a thorough understanding of the science and epidemiology related to gaining FDA approval to market pharmaceuticals and medical devices. John’s inside knowledge of how “Big Pharma” operates gives him a unique perspective and skill sets that are very useful to Mass Tort plaintiff firms.
Andrew has worked in litigation finance since 2012. He spent several years as the COO of Burford Capital, also serving as CEO of Burford’s UK operations and as a Director of the Association of Litigation Funders of England and Wales. Following his time at Burford, Andrew was a Principal at Gerchen Keller Capital, where he led origination for the firm. At the time of its acquisition in December 2016, Gerchen Keller was the largest litigation finance firm in the world, with assets of over $1.4 billion.
Andrew began his career as a litigator with the law firm of White & Case in New York. He subsequently held in-house legal positions at Disney/ABC and was the General Counsel of Dow Jones & Company’s Local Media Group. Andrew is a graduate of the University of Virginia Law School.
Annie Pavia is a Legal Analyst at Bloomberg Law, focusing on the development of guidance and analysis for litigators. She has been with Bloomberg Law since 2016, and prior to that practiced as a litigation associate with Latham & Watkins LLP for five years. Annie is a graduate of the College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia School of Law.
Alanna Clair is a partner at Dentons US LLP in Washington, D.C. Her practice focuses on professional liability and law firm defense, as well as insurance coverage and bad faith defense. She is currently the co-chair of the Attorneys’ Liability Subcommittee of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Professional Liability Litigation Section, which focuses on issues unique to litigators who prosecute or defend claims against attorneys and other professionals. Alanna writes and speaks frequently on issues of attorney liability and insurer exposure, including in a bi-monthly column in the Daily Report. She is also the co-author of “The Lawyer’s Handbook: Ethics Compliance and Claim Avoidance” as well as several editions of “Georgia Legal Malpractice Law.” Alanna is a graduate of Wellesley College and University of Michigan Law School.