JACKSONVILLE, Fla., April 19, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LawFi, Inc., (“LawFi”) the startup Legal Fintech company developing the first-of-its-kind Legal Fee Financing platform empowering more inclusive access to legal services and credit, is pleased to announce four new members of its advisory and executive launch team as the company accelerates its development to bring financial inclusion to the legal system.
The company, founded and led by Steven Highfill, is proud to announce the new members who will join recently announced fintech advisor, Faraz Rana, on the Advisory and Executive Launch Team:
Mr. Barry Rafferty joins as an Advisor and Fractional Head of Capital Markets. Barry is currently the Head of Capital Markets at Freedom Financial Asset Management, the sole holding company of the Freedom Financial Network. He is also the former Head of Capital Markets at Upstart and OneMain. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryrafferty/.
Mr. Rick Bachman, MBA, CRCM, joins as an Advisor and Fractional Chief Compliance Officer. Rick has helped some of the best known fintech firms and challenger banks establish their compliance programs. He collaborates with clients and their partner banks to build the controls and compliance culture necessary for continued success. His clients include household names such as Chime, Mercury, Brex, GoodMoney, One, Gusto, Orum, Point and many others. At last count, one hundred firms have trusted Rick to set them in the right direction with their programs. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickbachman/.
Mr. Randy Bachman, MBA, joins as an Advisor and Fractional Chief Marketing Officer. Randy is the former Global Chief Marketing Officer of Principal Financial and a board member of a regional credit union. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randybachmanmba/.
Mr. Mark DeBacker, CPA/CFO, an established leader of fintech-powered specialty finance companies in consumer and commercial verticals, joins as an Advisor and Fractional Chief Financial Officer. Mark is a New York state CPA who started his career as a manager at Deloitte. He transitioned in-house to serve as CFO of several healthcare organizations before becoming the SVP and CFO of two banks. In 2009, Mark founded his own lending company as the Chairman & CEO of Blue Bridge Financial, LLC. He oversaw the company from start-up through $70MM annual revenue and A to C round capital and debt-raises. He successfully sold his interest in the company after ten years. He has been consulting since 2019. See: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-debacker-53a89910/.
Steven Highfill, Founder & CEO of LawFi, commented: "LawFi is building an exceptional team of outstanding advisors and executives to provide the experience and leadership needed to successfully develop and launch our unique platform. Our new team members comprise world class leaders in their respective fields, including banking, lending, capital markets, compliance, marketing, and fintech leaders. I am humbled and honored that, at this early stage for LawFi, such eminent experts have chosen to support our vision and join our journey to bring long-needed financial products to the legal vertical. The complementary backgrounds of this talented team will combine to ensure LawFi can deliver the first Legal Fee Financing options to legal consumers, SMBs, and legal merchants across America.”
The new team members said:
Barry Rafferty - “I am attracted to LawFi due to the large, underserved consumer base to be addressed in the legal space. This is a unique opportunity to use technology and industry expertise to deliver great value to clients, law firms, and investors. Everyone wins!”
Mark DeBacker - “Throughout my career, I continue to have passion for providing innovative financing options to the underserved consumer and business community throughout the US. Meeting Steven and hearing his vision to become a first mover in providing financing options to the legal community really ignited my interest. The consumer and small business community continues to be severely underserved by the banking and finance industry. I look forward to positioning LawFi as to the go-to financing source for the legal profession.”
Rick Bachman - “After working with over 100 fintech firms, I've had the opportunity to see lots of programs and to meet some remarkable people. However, it is unusual where I see something so unique that can create a market and become the leader immediately out of the gates. I see that in LawFi, and the vision and team Steven has put together. There have been several instances where I have wanted to participate in the future success of a program through a personal investment. However, with LawFi, I wanted to be a part of it and help the firm succeed in the long term. I think what we are building here is unique and we have an incredible future ahead of us. I am also excited to be able to work on a program along with my brother Randy and share this experience with him.”
Randy Bachman - “Joining Steven and the LawFi team brings together my passion for helping people with my experience in financial services. I am excited about the unique solutions we’ll offer and our shared passion of improving the legal and financial health of our customers.”
Mr. Highfill said: “LawFi has big plans to create an entirely new category and pipeline of loan assets called “Legal Fee Loans.” Our platform will empower more inclusive access to legal services and credit by delivering direct and point-of-service BNPL 2.0 options and long-term loans for the financing of lawyer retainers and legal fees. We are creating lasting loan programs that can change the lives of U.S. legal consumers and business owners who, until now, could not find financing options to secure legal representation when facing legal emergencies or important legal matters. LawFi will also partner with banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to help them to access and onboard these innovative legal loan products.”
About LawFi, Inc.
(“LawFi”) is a privately held development stage Legal Fintech company focused on developing the first-of-its-kind Legal Fee Financing platform capable of reinventing and vastly improving the lawyer procurement and legal fee payment experience. LawFi will help solve the longstanding Access to Justice problem because Everyone Deserves Legal Representation™, Access to Justice, and Affordable Credit. Our platform will generate the industry's first direct and point-of-service loans, buy-now-pay-later plans, and no credit check income-based financing of lawyer retainers and legal fees.
For more information contact:
info@lawfi.com
or inquire at
25 North Market Street, 1st Floor
Jacksonville, Florida 32202
