Press Release
Press Release
Press Contacts: Erik Cummins, Matt Hyams, Taina Rosa, Olivia Meyer
05.20.26
Pillsbury has announced the addition of partners Douglas Curran and Jonathan Kortmansky in New York, adding notable strength to the firm’s Litigation practice—consistently recognized by BTI Consulting as among the most feared by opposing counsel. Having previously served as Co-Chairs of the Financial Litigation & Complex Disputes practice group at Anderson Kill, they bring extensive experience in complex financial and business litigation, including disputes involving digital assets and emerging technologies. They also add further depth to Pillsbury’s elite trial capabilities.
“As the connection between investment capital and emerging technology continues to broaden, so too have the number of disputes requiring deep expertise in both,” said firm Chair David Dekker. “Doug and Jon offer clients critical knowledge of the evolving financial sector, which creates a distinct advantage when these highly nuanced matters must be resolved in the courtroom. They also add additional strengths to our deep bench of commercial litigators with real trial experience.”
Curran, who was named to Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading Litigators in America in 2025 and 2026 and was named by Law360 as a Rising Star in 2023, has substantial experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation in courts across the country. He advises corporations and individuals operating in the financial services, private equity, venture capital, cryptocurrency, and emerging technology industries on a variety of disputes, including those involving multifaceted investments, complex financial instruments, corporate governance, and post-closing M&A rights. He is also widely recognized for his work in the digital asset space, having represented investors in cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain ventures and having acted for digital asset firms as creditors in high-value insolvency proceedings.
Among other notable cases, he successfully represented a consortium of bondholders with more than $1 billion in claims against an international telecom company; shareholders of an acquired technology company in a $400 million earn-out dispute; creditors in digital-asset insolvency proceedings in the offshore insolvency of an $18 billion crypto-based hedge fund; a private equity portfolio company in a $120 million trade-secret and antitrust dispute; early-stage SAFE investors with more than $90 million in claims against a multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency exchange; a venture capital SAFT investor with more than $100 million in claims against a multibillion-dollar blockchain platform; and a private equity portfolio company in an intellectual property dispute resulting in a $56 million federal jury verdict.
Kortmansky is a similarly accomplished trial lawyer, with extensive experience representing private equity and hedge funds, banks, public and closely held corporations, as well as high net worth individuals in financial disputes. Named to the Legal 500 multiple times, he concentrates on litigation involving complex financial instruments, securities, M&A, corporate governance and control, trusts, and multi-national bankruptcy proceedings. He regularly advises senior management and boards of directors regarding litigation, business, and regulatory risks and strategy. He is also a recognized authority in the digital asset space, representing clients in everything from ICOs and asset tracing to complex cryptocurrency liquidations.
Kortmansky’s landmark litigation achievements include securing major defense victories for UniCredit Bank Austria AG—dismissing two class actions, a $60 billion Madoff RICO claim, and $2 billion in fraudulent conveyance claims—and Thomson SA, defeating a $100 million put-option suit. He also won a complete defense verdict against a $40 million corporate acquisition rescission claim. For plaintiffs, Kortmansky secured a fraud verdict involving the valuation of Israel’s largest private agrochemical company, and successfully recovered full investments for the purpose of acquiring a Swiss paper company for 32 limited partners by forcing their managing partner into involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
“Doug and Jon will augment our ability to represent clients on both sides of the v. in high-stakes, multi-jurisdictional disputes, especially in the ever-important financial sector,” said Deborah Baum, Pillsbury’s Global Head of Litigation. “Their mastery of the complexities of both traditional financial litigation and the rapidly evolving digital asset space ensures clients have the kind of advocates required to succeed in today’s legal environment and continues Pillsbury’s ongoing expansion in this space.”
“I am delighted to join Pillsbury and to work alongside such a distinguished group of litigators,” Curran said. “The firm’s forward-thinking approach to trial work and its deep integration with the venture capital and fintech sectors provide the perfect environment to deliver results for clients.”
Pillsbury has seen remarkable recruiting success over the recent past, welcoming 48 new partners since the start of 2025. The Litigation practice has been a core component of that growth, welcoming insurance litigators Robert “Bob” Gilbert in Boston and Kirsten C. Jackson in Los Angeles; patent litigator Robert J. “Bob” Hollingshead in Tokyo; former Asst. Attorney General of U.S. DOJ Environment and Natural Resources Division and DC Solicitor General Todd Kim; intellectual property litigator Brian Paul Gearing, who will split time between New York, Washington, D.C. and Tokyo; intellectual property litigator Steven James in London; Mark Abate, an intellectual property litigator in New York; San Diego-based intellectual property practitioner J. Rick Taché; former Acting Chief of Staff in the Criminal Division of the DOJ Jeffrey Izant; insurance litigator Gerald “Jay” Konkel in Washington, D.C.; and trial lawyer Amy Ruhland in Austin in that time.
“Pillsbury’s reputation for excellence in both its litigation and complex transactional groups make it the ideal platform for Doug’s and my practice,” Kortmansky said. “I am thrilled to join such a collaborative team and we’re looking forward to leveraging the firm’s global reach and diverse strengths to help our clients navigate their most complex challenges.”
Pillsbury’s award-winning team of more than 200 litigators works with clients around the world to help them successfully resolve disputes, in trial and out of court, at home and in jurisdictions around the globe. The firm has garnered dozens of top-tier recognitions as a result of its litigation capabilities and is regularly identified as one of the most feared law firms CLOs and GCs come up against in litigation according to BTI Consulting Group.