Gerchen Keller Capital Launches $100 Million Litigation Finance Fund

CHICAGO, April 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Gerchen Keller Capital, LLC ("GKC") today announced its official launch as one of the largest U.S.-based investors focused on commercial litigation. With more than $100 million of committed capital, GKC invests in commercial legal claims and finances litigation defense, providing capital to sophisticated parties and the leading law firms that represent them.

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Adam Gerchen, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We are extraordinarily proud of the team we have built and all they have accomplished to date. With the closing of GKC Partners I, LP and completion of our first investment, we look forward to educating the market further about our innovative financial products and our unique approach to litigation finance." 

"Most traditional capital providers are ill-equipped to finance litigation," stated Ashley Keller, co-founder and Chief Investment Officer. "We founded GKC to deliver needed capital to companies and law firms. Our financing reduces litigation-related risks for plaintiffs and defendants and enables law firms to offer alternative fee arrangements in response to market demands."

GKC's finance solutions offer benefits for litigants and law firms and can be implemented at any stage of litigation. Individual transactions will average $5 million and will span various types of legal claims, industries and jurisdictions.

In addition to Gerchen and Keller, the GKC team includes Chief Underwriting Officer Travis Lenkner, a former Senior Counsel at The Boeing Company, and Investment Committee Chairman Terry Carlson, former General Counsel of Synthes, Inc. and Medtronic, Inc. 

"The demand for litigation finance continues to grow, and we are excited to introduce our pioneering approach to the marketplace," Lenkner said. "As the volume of commercial litigation increases and legal costs rise, we are well positioned to help parties reduce expenses and manage overall risk while enabling them to work with their counsel of choice."

As Chairman of the Investment Committee, Carlson brings to bear his considerable experience as a former general counsel and law firm partner.

"In my more than 35 years in the business and legal professions, I have never been more excited to join a new venture," Carlson said. "GKC and its principals bring an unmatched diversity of background in investing, corporate finance and law. I am proud to play my part in helping build this organization into the leading investment firm focused on commercial litigation."

The Gerchen Keller Capital Team

Adam Gerchen | Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Gerchen is a former Portfolio Manager at Alyeska Investment Group, a Chicago-based market neutral hedge fund, where he specialized in risk arbitrage and event driven investing.  Before joining Alyeska in 2008, Mr. Gerchen was an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs & Company.  Mr. Gerchen graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Brown University and received his JD from Harvard Law School.

Ashley Keller | Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Keller was an Analyst at Alyeska Investment Group and is a former Partner at Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott LLP.  Before practicing law, Mr. Keller was a law clerk for Judge Richard Posner at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Keller graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and received an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was first in his class.

Travis Lenkner | Chief Underwriting Officer
Mr. Lenkner was a Senior Counsel at The Boeing Company, before which he was a litigation and appellate attorney in the New York and Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He also was a law clerk for Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Anthony M. Kennedy at the Supreme Court of the United States. Mr. Lenkner graduated from Kansas State University and earned his JD from the University of Kansas School of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Kansas Law Review.

Terry Carlson | Chairman of the Investment Committee
Mr. Carlson was General Counsel at Synthes, Inc. and was General Counsel and Head of Government Affairs at Medtronic, Inc. From 1978 to 1994, Mr. Carlson was a Partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he served in the firm's London and Los Angeles offices and established the firm's Hong Kong office.  Mr. Carlson graduated with high honors in business from the University of Minnesota and received his JD, cum laude, from the University of Michigan. 

To learn more about Gerchen Keller Capital, visit www.gerchenkeller.com, email [email protected], or call 312-803-4999.

Media Contact:
Travis Lenkner
312-803-4969
[email protected]

SOURCE Gerchen Keller Capital, LLC