January 21, 2022
BLB&G is pleased to announce that Jesse L. Jensen has been promoted to partner of the firm, and Michael Mathai and Catherine van Kampen have been promoted to senior counsel. The promotions are effective January 1, 2022.
“We are pleased to celebrate the exceptional abilities of these lawyers and congratulate them on their well-deserved promotions,” said managing partner Sal Graziano. “Their passion, skill, and dedication to our clients are exactly what we are looking for as we continue to grow the firm.”
“These lawyers embody the bright future of our firm,” said managing partner Jerry Silk. “We are proud of their commitment to the BLB&G team and their devotion to our clients’ long-term success.”
New Partner
Jesse Jensen focuses his practice on securities fraud, corporate governance and shareholder rights litigation on behalf of the firm’s institutional clients. Since joining the firm, he has helped investors achieve hundreds of millions in recoveries, including a $110 million settlement in Fresno County Employees’ Retirement Association v. comScore, Inc.; a $32 million cash settlement in an action against real estate service provider Altisource Portfolio Solutions, S.A.; a $210 million dollar settlement in In re Wilmington Trust Securities Litigation; and a $22 million settlement in an action against mutual fund company Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. He is currently assisting the firm in its prosecution of cases against Navient Corporation, Frontier Communications, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Perrigo, and Cognizant. Jesse has been named a “Rising Star” for the past seven years by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. Prior to joining the firm, Jesse was a litigation associate at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, where he represented accounting firms, banks, investment firms, and high-net-worth individuals in complex commercial, securities, commodities and professional liability civil litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Jesse received his J.D. and B.A. from New York University.
New Senior Counsel
Michael Mathai's practice focuses on securities fraud, corporate governance, and shareholder rights litigation. Since joining the firm, Michael has helped investors achieve over $1 billion in recoveries, including in securities class actions against Wells Fargo ($480 million), Signet Jewelers ($240 million), SCANA ($192.5 million), Allergan ($130 million), CenturyLink ($55 million), and Henry Schein ($35 million), and derivative litigation against McKesson ($175 million). He is currently a senior member of the teams prosecuting securities class actions against NVIDIA, Farfetch, Grand Canyon Education, and Energy Transfer, as well as the team prosecuting claims on behalf of institutional investors that have suffered losses in connection with investments in the Allianz Structured Alpha Funds. Prior to joining the firm, Michael was a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, where he represented financial services and other companies in securities class action, shareholder rights, antitrust, and commercial litigation matters in state and federal court. He also gained considerable experience representing companies and individuals in investigations and inquiries by regulatory bodies, including the SEC, DOJ, FTC, and FINRA. Michael received his J.D. from Columbia Law School, his M.Sc. in Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, and his B.A. from Harvard University.
Catherine van Kampen’s law practice concentrates on class action settlement administration. She manages the firm’s qualified settlement funds and claims administration for settlements achieved by the firm, and is responsible for initiating and managing the claims administration process and working with the Court-appointed claims administrators and investment banks for the benefit of the Classes represented by the firm. She regularly interfaces with institutional and retail investors to explain the claims administration process and to assist them with filing their claims. Catherine also has extensive experience in complex litigation and litigation management, having served as a team leader and overseen attorney teams in many of the firm’s most high-profile cases during the 2008 Financial Crisis. Fluent in Dutch, she has served as the lead investigator and led discovery efforts in actions involving international corporations and financial institutions headquartered in Belgium and the Netherlands. Since attending law school, Catherine has been deeply committed to public and pro bono service to underserved communities. As a member of the New York City Bar Association’s United Nations Committee and African Affairs Committee, she spearheaded organizing the highly successful and widely-praised International Law Conference on the Status of Women, among other endeavors. In recognition of her work, Catherine was appointed Co-Chair of the United Nations Committee and a Member of the Council for International Affairs in September of 2021. Catherine received her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and her B.A. in Political Science from Indiana University.