James “Jim” Maxson, a leading practitioner in the life settlement industry, has joined the Atlanta office of the law firm of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP. Maxson teams with MMM partner Ward Bondurant to co-chair a newly formed Life Settlements Group. The new group will advise domestic and international clients on critical legal, insurance regulatory, tax and financial issues. Maxson was formerly Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Habersham Funding, LLC, a leading life settlement provider.

Life settlements are transactions in which unwanted or unneeded life insurance policies are sold into a secondary market comprised primarily of institutional investors. Roughly $12 to $15 billion in life settlement transactions took place last year. The industry is growing by 25% annually, independent of other economic factors.

“Jim’s arrival prompts us to pull together the considerable life settlement experience existing at the firm,” said Mr. Bondurant, the Group’s co-chair.

Doug Head, Executive Director of the Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA), the oldest and largest trade association in the industry, said, “At LISA, we’ve come to respect Jim’s expertise in the life settlement space, and have frequently consulted him when we encountered complicated legal issues. It’s a good thing for the industry overall that Jim’s expertise will be available to industry participants.”

Maxson spent four years as Habersham Funding’s General Counsel, and will continue to represent the firm as outside counsel.

“As a pioneer in the life settlement industry, I have worked with many attorneys over the years,” said Habersham’s President and Managing Member Bryan Freeman. “I think that Jim is one of the brightest and best attorneys with whom I have had the pleasure to work. I am glad that we can share Jim’s wise counsel with our industry,” added Mr. Freeman, who served four terms as the President of LISA.

Members of Morris, Manning & Martin’s Life Settlements Group, together with their specialties, include Mr. Maxson (policy acquisitions and regulatory issues), Mr. Bondurant (finance), William Winter (ownership structures and tax), Joseph Holahan (broker activities and regulatory issues), Chris Petersen and Skip Myers (insurance regulatory issues) and Lew Hassett (litigation and arbitration.)

Mr. Maxson joins Morris, Manning & Martin as Of Counsel.

About Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, (www.mmmlaw.com) enjoys national prominence for its corporate finance, securities, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, technology, intellectual property, real estate and real estate capital markets, environmental, insurance and healthcare practices. The firm has offices in Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah and Washington, D.C.

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Media Contact: Terri Thornton, Thornton Communications, (404) 932-4347 territhornton@mindspring.com