Deaths

Litigation Finance Pioneer Dies After Apparent Opioid Overdose

Before he died, he sent his assistant to a pharmacy to buy an antidote for opioid overdoses.

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Dennis Shields (Photo via LinkedIn)

We’ve got some unfortunate news to report out of Manhattan. Dennis Shields, the founder and CEO of LawCash, one of the country’s oldest litigation finance ventures, was found dead in his Trump Tower apartment on Friday morning. Shields was also known for being romantically linked to Bethenny Frankel, star of “The Real Housewives of New York City” and founder of Skinnygirl Cocktails.

According to news reports, police say that Shields’s death is being investigated as an Oxycontin overdose. The New York Times has additional information:

Dennis Shields, 51, who was the chief executive of LawCash, collapsed and lost consciousness on Friday shortly after he sent his assistant to a pharmacy to buy Narcan — an antidote for opioid overdoses — because he was feeling ill, the police said. The assistant returned with the drug, but it did not help Mr. Shields. Emergency medical technicians who were called to his apartment — No. 42B — could not revive him, the police said.

The police said it appeared Mr. Shields had taken too much of the painkiller OxyContin, but a spokeswoman at the medical examiner’s office said a cause of death had not been determined. It remained unclear if the drug was prescribed to Mr. Shields or not.

Harvey R. Hirschfeld, president of LawCash, had this to say about the loss of his business partner: “Dennis Shields was a unique and visionary person. His friends and work family at LawCash all feel a sense of great shock and loss, and all of our thoughts and prayers are with Dennis’ family at this extraordinarily difficult time.”

We here at Above the Law would like to extend our condolences to Dennis Shields’s family, friends, and colleagues during this difficult time.

Litigation Funding Pioneer Found Dead at 51 [American Lawyer]
Boyfriend of Bethenny Frankel Found Dead in Trump Tower [New York Times]

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Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

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