2021 speakers

Derek Ho is a partner and member of the Executive Committee of the litigation boutique Kellogg Hansen in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Ho specializes in appellate and complex commercial litigation, with particular expertise and experience in class actions and MDL proceedings, antitrust law, the False Claims Act, and fiduciary litigation.  Mr. Ho also has extensive experience representing litigation finance firms and litigants that receive litigation funding.

Mr. Ho has been widely recognized for his success in cutting-edge business litigation matters.  His work for plaintiffs has helped generate more than $1 billion in settlements, while his work for defendants has resulted in dismissal of claims asserting multiple billions of dollars in damages.  Mr. Ho also has an active appellate practice.  He has argued more than 20 cases in federal and state appellate courts.  He has also been the principal author of numerous merits and amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Ho’s work on behalf of litigation finance companies has resulted in precedent-setting cases, including a string of victories in which Mr. Ho helped establish the principle that communications between a litigant and a litigation funder are protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or work-product doctrine.  See Viamedia, Inc. v. Comcast Corp., No. 16-C-5486, 2017 WL 2834535 (N.D. Ill. 2017); In re International Oil Trading Co., 548 B.R. 825 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2016); Charge Injection Techs., Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., No. 07C-12-134-JRJ, 2015 WL 1540520 (Del. Super. Ct. Mar. 31, 2015); Devon IT, Inc. v. IBM Corp., No. CIV.A. 10-2899, 2012 WL 4748160 (E.D. Pa. Sept. 27, 2012).  Mr. Ho has also successfully defended against allegations that litigation funding violates state-law champerty and maintenance doctrines.  See Charge Injection Techs., Inc. v. E.I. DuPont De Nemours & Co., No. 07C-12-134-JRJ, 2016 WL 937400 (Del. Super. Ct. Mar. 9, 2016).