James L. Koutoulas, Esq. is a professional hedge fund manager, software developer, and securities lawyer. Koutoulas Law, LLC provides specialized representation where those three areas intersect. We focus on public interest investor advocacy and transactional work in the hedge fund, futures, and cryptocurrency industries. We also provide employment and discrimination representation for select clients.

Investor Advocacy Representation

  • Representing fraud victims in some of the largest cases in history

    • Lead Customer Counsel- MF Global Bankruptcy

    • Lead Customer Counsel- Peregrine Financial Group

      • Led recovery of $300 million in customer assets for 10,000 victims. 100% pro bono.

    • Member of the Lead Counsel Group- CHASE WILLIAMS AND WILLIAM

      ZHANG, et. al v. BLOCK.ONE, BRENDAN BLUMER, and DANIEL LARIMER

      • Matter alleging securities fraud: $22M settlement pending judicial approval

    • Lead Counsel ETF Basket File Gross Negligence case

      • Defeated a $1T+ asset manager’s summary judgment motion then negotiated favorable settlement

    • Assisted the successful SEC investigation of a Hedge Fund Ponzi Scheme

    • Assisted the successful FBI investigation of a cryptocurrency fraud

    • Lead Counsel in successful Statistical Arbitrage Intellectual Property Theft Arbitration, recovering over $8M in damages

    • Lead Counsel in successful hedge fund IMA breach of contract arbitration

Specialized Transactional Work

  • Founded Typhon Capital Management, LLC, a deconstructed multi-strategy hedge fund and created internal legal and technology platform for managing 15 portfolio management groups in separate trading vehicles across SMAs, US, and Cayman Funds.

  • Co-Founded JurisTrade, the first secondary market for litigation finance

  • Counsel to major cryptocurrency stablecoin, creating compliant pre-funding offering

  • Negotiated pricing and terms for over $500M in distressed debt claims

Employment and Discrimination

  • Won two jury trials against Sante Ventures for breach of contract, securing $1.6M judgment on behalf of a former employee in SDNY

  • Successfully represented a sexual harassment corporate whistleblower

  • Successfully represented 3 discrimination victims in separate matters

Education

  • B.S. in Finance with History Minor from University of Florida

    • Attended as National Merit Scholar, Florida Bright Futures Scholar, AP National Scholar, Angelos Langadas Classics Scholar

  • J.D. with Securities Concentration from Northwestern University School of Law

    • Advisory Board Member and Consulting Expert on Futures- Investor Protection Clinic

Awards and Honors

  • Recipient- Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law 2016 Emerging Leader Award

  • National Merit Scholar, Angelos Langadas Classics Scholar, AP National Scholar

Co-Counsel

Koutoulas Law, LLC has several co-counsel relationships with both major international firms and solo practitioners to staff each matter appropriately.

Board Memberships

Mr. Koutoulas currently serves on the boards of two non-profit organizations.