Lengthy lawsuits and drawn out appeals are fraught with stress, emotional turmoil and financial strain. For attorneys and plaintiffs alike there are bills to pay, a business to run, a mortgage to cover, and families to support. We understand the pressure and the dilemma.

  • Appeal funding provides immediate cash before the appeal is decided.
  • If the case is eventually lost you owe nothing.
  • You pay with funds collected from the defendant
Michael Blum
Founder and CEO

Michael Blum, Founder and CEO of Appeal Funding Partners, LLC, is a trial attorney with more than 40 years of professional experience. He earned his JD from the University of San Francisco in 1968, after earning a BS in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1965.

During a successful career as a trial attorney, Michael Blum handled a broad array of legal matters exclusively on a contingency fee basis. He firmly believes that our civil justice system works best when financial pressures are removed from the litigation process, allowing lawsuits and appeals to be decided solely on their merits.

In 1994 Michael Blum founded a finance company that specialized in purchasing portions of money judgments on appeal and providing working capital and cost loans to law firms. His company invested more than $350 million with trial attorneys and plaintiffs. Mr. Blum has served on the Board of Directors of the Marin Trial Lawyers Association and the Consumer Attorneys of California and has been an active member of the American Association for Justice. He has also spoken and written on the financial aspects of running a contingency fee law firm.

Mr. Blum also founded a successful consumer electronics company that was sold to Matushita Electric Company of Japan. Subsequently, he operated a computer-related company and provided capital formation, business consulting and legal services to emerging growth companies.

Leigh Abresch
Operations

Leigh Abresch received her B.S. with honors in Finance, from Golden Gate University in San Francisco. She is currently pursuing an MBA degree. Ms. Abresch has more than 25 years of experience working with law firms in various capacities.  She most recently served as an Investment Operations Manager, implementing and managing operating procedures, underwriting, contract management and servicing for appeal funding and trial firm lending.

Leigh’s legal background includes experience as an administrator and senior paralegal, providing legal support functions such as document preparation, contract management, document review and due diligence. She has also provided project management and support in closing complex corporate, real estate, and tax-exempt bond financings for various California school districts and state agencies.

Administration

The quality of the service offered by Appeal Funding Partners would not be possible without the ongoing efforts of the dedicated team members of our administrative staff.

They are committed to our vision, our mission and our core values. They play an essential role in making our company an efficient, trusted, reliable source of appeal funding liquidity for attorneys and plaintiffs alike.

Appellate Consultants

We have assembled a national panel of leading attorneys and legal researchers who are skilled and experienced in appellate advocacy.

They each possess unique knowledge of the law and the appellate process, in jurisdictions across the United States. These appellate consultants provide invaluable assistance in our due diligence process.

Business Practices

At Appeal Funding Partners, we are focused on creating a partnership with you to efficiently complete the appeal funding process and provide the cash you need as quickly as possible.

As legal professionals, we understand the importance of upholding the ethical rules of conduct. Our application and underwriting processes, our transactional documents and our servicing activities are all designed to comply with all ethical requirements.

We do not offer legal advice, assume control of the case, interfere in the attorney-client relationship or require privileged information. All details of the case are held in strictest confidence. At no time do we interfere in the handling of the decision-making process. We always act only as a passive investor.