Litigation Finance

Curtis Smolar is Director of Litigation Underwriting at Legalist. He oversees a team of attorneys underwriting potential litigation investments at the Company and is a member of its investment committee. Before joining Legalist in 2017, Curtis was a partner in the commercial litigation group at Fox Rothschild.

Curtis is a graduate of Syracuse University and the SMU Dedman School of Law.

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Anand Upadhye is Legalist's Director of Investments. He is a former litigator with several years of startup legal technology leadership experience.

As an attorney, Anand tried cases both as a litigator at a large firm, as well as a prosecutor at the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. After six years of law practice, he started as an early employee at Casetext, a venture-backed legal technology startup. At Casetext, he served as Vice President of Business Development, where he led the revenue organization, including sales and customer success functions. In that role, Anand frequently presented at conferences internationally on technological innovation in the legal industry.

Anand attended the University of California, Berkeley and received a J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law.

Sam Conover is Portfolio Coordinator at Legalist. She coordinates monitoring of investments across the Company's Litigation Finance strategy. Before joining Legalist in 2022, Sam worked as a paralegal at several litigation-focused firms.

Sam is a graduate of the University of Central Florida.

Lauren Valastro is Investment Counsel at Legalist. She underwrites potential investments in the Company's Litigation Finance strategy. Before joining Legalist in 2022, Lauren was a commercial litigation partner at a national boutique litigation firm.

Lauren graduated from Texas Tech School of Law and Honors College. She is also a tenure-track business law professor at Louisiana State University – Shreveport.

Jaemin Chang is Portfolio Counsel at Legalist. She monitors investments across the Company's Litigation Finance strategy. Before joining Legalist in 2021, Jaemin was a partner in the commercial litigation group at Fox Rothschild.

Jaemin is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law and School of Management.

Jared Danziger is Senior Investment Counsel at Legalist. He underwrites potential investments in the Company's Litigation Finance strategy. Jared joined Legalist in 2021, having previously worked at Bernstein Litowitz and Credit Suisse.

Jared is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.

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Jeremy Gillick is Investment Counsel at Legalist. He underwrites potential investments in the Company's Litigation Finance strategy. Jeremy joined Legalist in 2021, having worked most recently at Allen Matkins.

Jeremy is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the UC Hastings College of the Law.

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Daniel Herrin is an Investment Manager at Legalist who leads the company's investments into meritorious claims. Outside of work Daniel is an avid outdoorsman, and a classical guitarist. Prior to joining Legalist, Daniel spent the last 2 years working in the enterprise legal management space as an enterprise sales representative.

Daniel also has a B.A. in Marketing from St. Edward's University.

Darci Matovich is an Investment Manager who leads Legalist’s investments into meritorious claims. Darci has a knack for helping others and prides herself in taking great care in the work she does. When she is not facilitating funding for attorneys and clients, she loves being humbled by the great outdoors with her family. From mountain biking to golf, they enjoy it all.

‍Darci holds B.S. from the University of Montana.

Hunter Day is an Investment Manager who leads Legalist's investments into meritorious claims. When he's not helping attorneys and clients get funded, he loves hiking, photography, and the outdoors. Previously, he served as regional business development lead for physicians in Western Montana, Utah, and Wyoming for various medical devices in the orthopedic and sterile processing fields.

Hunter holds a B.A. from the University of Montana.

Jameson Morton is an Investments Lead at Legalist focused on the Litigation Finance side of the business. Jameson is a proud life-long Montanan, and has more than a decade of strong sales and client service experience. When he's not at work assisting his team fund lawsuits, he enjoys the great outdoors -- especially golf and spending time in the backcountry -- and spending time with his wife and their adorable Goldendoodle.

Jameson holds a B.S. from the University of Montana.

Matt Muniz is an investment manager who leads Legalist's investments into meritorious claims. Previously, he worked as a residential real estate agent in Denver, leading a successful book of business. Born and raised in Colorado, he is an avid skier, hiker, and long distance runner, often participating in multiple 10K landraces throughout the year.

Matt received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Colorado Boulder.

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Mark Carman is an Investment Manager who leads Legalist's investments into meritorious claims. Mark has experience as a paralegal and sales representative. When he's not helping attorneys and clients get funded, he loves traveling, cooking, and pickleball.

Mark received his B.S. in Finance from Brigham Young University.

Phoebe Weissblum is an Investment Manager who is passionate about connecting meritorious cases to the funding they need. Before joining Legalist, she was a paralegal at Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernstein and Loewy and a sales representative in the Fashion industry.

When not in the office, she enjoys reading, entertaining, and keeping up-to-date on the latest innovations in Tech.

Zach is an Investments Lead who leads Legalist's investments into meritorious claims. Originally from Michigan, Zach was born and raised in the Detroit suburbs. When he’s not helping attorneys fund their mass torts, he enjoys playing with his St. Bernard, Hodor and Corgi, Jules.

Zach received a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Philosophy from Western Michigan University.

Andrew Campbell is Legalist's LFA Lead. He started his legal career as a litigator before transitioning to policy work focused on improving public health. More recently, he worked in business development/sales in the legal tech startup space.

Andrew holds a BS in journalism from West Virginia University; JD from Villanova University School of Law; and MBA from Temple University's Fox School of Business.