FACULTY
Michael P. Kelley, Parker Poe / Washington, DC
Lucian T. Pera, Adams and Reese LLP / Memphis, TN
Andrew Woltman, Statera Capital, LLC / Chicago, IL
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Michael P. Kelley, Parker Poe / Washington, DC
Michael Kelley has more than 25 years of experience assisting U.S. and international companies and funds with all of their investment needs. He represents both inbound and outbound investors on the structuring, documentation, issuance, and management of investment funds, including providing counsel on regulatory compliance and best practices. He is experienced across a broad range of asset classes, including private equity, venture capital, and blockchain.
Mr. Kelley is the former general counsel of EMP Global, where he oversaw approximately $8 billion in assets across 10 different investment funds in emerging markets. He has served on investment committees and advisory boards for funds, as well as boards of directors for project companies, in Latin America, the United States, Canada, Asia, and the Middle East. He has supplemented his investment funds work as a transaction attorney and thought leader in the realm of litigation finance. He advises on the structuring and documentation of litigation finance transactions between and among funders, claimants, and law firms. He is also a frequent speaker at litigation finance conferences.
Mr. Kelley also has significant experience with social impact investment funds, including creating innovative structures for blending for-profit and nonprofit capital. He also provides general corporate counsel, and he has served as an arbitrator and mediator in complex financial and trade disputes at the American Arbitration Association and the International Centre for
Dispute Resolution.
Outside of his legal practice, Mr. Kelley volunteers with a number of social impact investment incubators in Washington, DC, and is an avid sailor and distance swimmer.
Lucian T. Pera, Adams and Reese LLP / Memphis, TN
Lucian T. Pera focuses his practice on commercial litigation, media law, and legal ethics work. His civil litigation practice has ranged widely and includes a variety of commercial, personal injury, and intellectual property litigation, as well as numerous state and federal appeals. He has represented many media outlets in matters ranging from claims for defamation or invasion of privacy to access to courtrooms, public records, and meetings of government bodies.
Mr. Pera’s extensive bar association work in the field of legal ethics and professional responsibility has resulted in him being elected, both locally in Tennessee and nationally, to bar association leadership positions. This work also makes him a go-to lawyer nationally in the field of legal ethics and professional responsibility. He advises attorneys, law firms, their clients, and businesses who deal with lawyers about all aspects of the law. Recent assignments have included defense of lawyers in disciplinary investigations and proceedings, clients with disciplinary complaints and other claims against lawyers, advising law firms about loss prevention and claims, defending and prosecuting motions to disqualify lawyers or for sanctions, and advising innovative start-ups in the legal business.
Mr. Pera regularly provides expert witness testimony in matters concerning legal ethics, professional responsibility, and the standard of care for lawyers and law firms. Amid rapid changes in the business of law, he also counsels law firms and other entities developing new business models for the delivery of legal services. He also advises individuals and organizations seeking to do business with lawyers about how they may do so legally and ethically.
Mr. Pera also writes and speaks frequently, both nationally and in Tennessee, on legal ethics and professional responsibility and media law. In addition, he routinely conducts presentations and seminars for national audiences.
Andrew Woltman, Statera Capital, LLC / Chicago, IL
Andy Woltman co-founded Statera Capital and has been Managing Director since inception. He is primarily responsible for investment sourcing, evaluation, and monitoring. He is also involved with limited partner relations and day-to-day fund operations, and serves on Statera’s Investment Committee.
Mr. Woltman is an experienced commercial litigator who has represented individuals and businesses in a wide range of complex commercial disputes. He joined Statera from McGuireWoods LLP, an AmLaw top 25 U.S. law firm by size with 1,000 attorneys practicing in 25 offices worldwide.
As a partner in the firm’s commercial litigation practice, Mr. Woltman represented commercial entities as plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state courts and arbitrations throughout the country. He has widespread experience in the financial services, food and beverage, healthcare, supply chain, real estate, oil and gas, manufacturing, and telecommunications industries. He has represented clients in varied complex commercial and business disputes, including contract, tort, fraud, shareholder derivative, antitrust, consumer protection, employment, constitutional, and RICO-related litigation.
Mr. Woltman also represented clients in widespread internal and external investigations. In that capacity, he led a Fortune 25 U.S. corporation’s multi-year efforts to revise core business practices following the 2008 Recession; a Fortune 50 U.S. corporation’s efforts to identify and remediate an alleged nation-wide fraudulent practice within a key business unit; investigations into isolated instances of fraud within corporate clients; numerous proactive audits to identify potential antitrust violations in clients’ global operations; and numerous proactive audits for clients to identify potential Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
Mr. Woltman remains active in the legal community as a member of various bar associations and the Chicago Inn of Court, a by-invitation membership of prominent judges, lawyers, and law professors who, through monthly meetings, work collaboratively to improve the skill, professionalism and ethics of the bar and bench. He also continues to maintain an active pro bono practice, primarily representing refugees.