Leadership

Andrew Clark has been investing in legal assets since 2007. Mr. Clark is currently the Managing Partner and CIO of Eastern Asset Management. In 2016 he founded and capitalized Eastern's parent taking over a non-performing litigation asset portfolio from a large hedge fund. After successfully rehabilitating the acquired loan and assets, in July 2019 Eastern began originating assets through a newly acquired subsidiary. Eastern’s team helped that business achieve profitability and it is now one of the leaders in its industry.

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Mr. Clark has executed a number of pioneering transactions involving legal assets. These include the leveraged buy-out of a leading personal injury law firm, involving the financing of a $100 million attorney fee portfolio. He also successfully arranged an attorney fee advance of over $100 million on a single case. Both deals were unique in the litigation finance industry when closed. He has completed litigation finance transactions in excess of $600 million to date.

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Prior to founding Eastern, Mr. Clark was a founding partner in Westbury Management Group. Westbury was the parent of LawCash, one of the first and most successful pre-settlement funding companies. Before Westbury he worked at Freeman & Co., a boutique investment banking firm, where he focused on specialty finance companies and alternative fixed income assets. Prior to joining Freeman, Mr. Clark was an investor in specialty finance assets while at Plainfield Asset Management LLC. At Plainfield Mr. Clark completed investments totaling over $300 million across eight portfolio companies. Mr. Clark also worked at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, the investment banking arm of Allianz SE, where he structured asset backed loans with a focus on esoteric assets. He began his career in finance as an M&A banker. Mr. Clark graduated from Cornell University (B.S.) and from Columbia University Graduate School of Business (M.B.A.).

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Mr. Clark lives in Greenwich, CT with his wife and twin daughters. When out of the office he enjoys ocean racing his sailboat, downhill skiing and traveling with his family and friends.

Mike Lungariello is a veteran executive-level leader with broad experience in finance, specialty finance, and asset management. Mr. Lungariello currently is Eastern’s President and he works closely with our Founder and Executive Team to develop Eastern’s long-term business plan and future growth. His more than 24 years in finance includes significant experience in diverse capital raising (equity and debt), strategic finance, mergers and acquisitions, and high growth organizations.

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Just prior to joining Eastern, Mr. Lungariello was the CFO of Axiom Space, the leading provider of human spaceflight services and developer of space Infrastructure. Prior to joining Axiom Space, Lungariello served as Executive Vice president and Chief Financial Officer for Quantum Space, which was founded in 2020 to become the premier space infrastructure and services company, particularly beyond low-Earth orbit.

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Previously, Mr. Lungariello served as the President & Chief Executive Officer, and a Board of Directors member of a specialty finance platform focused on aviation, leading the company through numerous periods of growth and capital raising. He was also part of the executive leadership team of a privately held ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) cargo operator that has since become part of Atlas Air. Mr. Lungariello holds an MBA from New York University Stern and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Manhattan College.

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He lives with his wife and four children in Westchester County, NY. When out of the office he enjoys skiing, playing guitar, is an avid motorsports fan, and spending time with his family and friends.

An accomplished and trusted CEO, Rich Palma has a demonstrated history of achievement in driving future success for client companies.  Rich identifies and pursues business opportunities and creates innovative, pioneering strategic initiatives.  Known for solving seemingly unsolvable business hardships by breaking down paradigms and implementing inventive solutions, Rich has established himself as an ambitious and effective challenger of the status quo whose operations expertise and inspirational leadership have driven his success in building companies.

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Rich has a proven track record of leveraging his strong negotiation abilities, interpersonal skills, and financial and business acumen to build businesses.  This expertise led to his creation of Core 1440 LLC in Delray Beach, FL, an executive coaching and consulting firm supporting the growth of small to midsize businesses, where he currently serves as President.  At Core 1440, Rich leads the company’s mission to drive sales, encourage organizational expansion, and streamline operations for client companies.  What sets Core 1440 apart is Rich’s hands-on approach, providing a holistic system that involves identifying business challenges through expert analysis and resolving them through the development of unique solutions across operations, asset management, specialty finance, and sales tailored to each client’s individual needs.

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Rich is an accomplished entrepreneur who founded the highly successful Advance Solutions in 2003, where he still serves as President.  A specialty finance company comprised of nine subsidiary enterprises, Advance Solutions maintains a robust portfolio of 50 high-net-worth individuals, all of whom entered into partnerships with the firm through recruitment and negotiation with Rich.

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Prior to founding Core 1440 in 2020, Rich served as the CEO of Golden Pear Funding in New York City from 2009 – 2020, creating and growing the company into the largest of its kind in North America and managing a nine figure balance sheet.  In addition to demonstrating effective leadership across all aspects of the business, ranging from human resources and risk management to marketing and business strategy, Rich built the organization from the ground up into a highly successful sales organization, spearheading the hiring, coaching, and professional development of his team.  Rich raised nearly $250 million of institutional capital, organized synthetic securitizations totaling $300 million and secured subordinated promissory note investments of greater than $50 million in his career.  In 2018, Rich sold Golden Pear Funding to three private equity firms.  Prior to Golden Pear Funding, Rich held executive positions during the years from 1984 – 2008 at prestigious companies such as FedEx, Goldman, Sachs & Co., UBS Global Asset Management, The Executive Transportation Group and LawCash.

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Rich has been a key member of several notable organizations, serving as the chairman of the American Legal Finance Association’s (ALFA), and as a former board member at Golden Pear Funding, Shpoonkle and Dalbar.  Rich is also a current advisory board member and investor in Greenheart CBD, a leading provider of CBD products with a growing global footprint.

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In addition to his professional activities, Rich has cultivated many hobbies, including playing piano and guitar and flying his single-engine Piper Archer plane in Florida as a private pilot. He is also an avid fan of America’s favorite pastime, baseball, and has played briefly for the New York Yankees’ minor league baseball affiliate in Oneonta NY.  Rich currently lives in Delray Beach, FL and is the proud father of his only child, Allie Palma.

Micah Adams serves as a partner and Eastern’s head of medical lien financing. Prior to Easter, Micah served as a Vice President at Panos Partners. He is a finance executive with operating experience leading emerging growth companies into new markets. He joined Panos Partners after a 10-year span rolling up litigation finance firms that included a focus on working with law firms and healthcare providers, most recently serving as VP Analytics, Strategy & Corporate Development at Oasis Financial.

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Mr. Adams is an alumnus of both the University of Oregon and the University of Texas at Austin, where he respectively completed his Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Business Administration

Stefanie joins Eastern with 15 years of finance and operations experience in asset and investment management.

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Just prior to joining Eastern, Stefanie was the VP of Finance and Chief Compliance Officer for Drum Capital Management, an investment manager focused on lower middle market, special situation investing. Here she oversaw all back-office functions for private equity and fund-of-funds structured vehicles.

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Previously, Stefanie was the Controller for Atlantic Street Capital Management, an operationally focused private equity firm investing in the business services, retail and healthcare sectors. Here she oversaw and built out all accounting, reporting, compliance, investor relations and technology functions during the firm’s growth from about $80 million at her start to $1 billion+ at her exit. During her time here she also assisted in multiple successful fundraises, acquisitions, and exits.

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Prior to Atlantic Street, Stefanie worked for Bridgewater Associates in the Operations and Accounting department, where she assisted in lifting out their back office to the Firm’s administrator, while also partaking in the restructuring of client reporting as well as daily fund activities. Stefanie began her career in the alternative assets consulting practice of WTP Advisors which was later sold to the Gartland & Mellina Group. Here she consulted to various investment advisors in accounting, operations and compliance. Stefanie received her MBA in Finance from Iona University and a BA in Economics and Sociology from Fordham University.

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Stefanie lives in Westchester County, NY with her husband and two step-children, surrounded by their families. Stefanie is an avid reader and lover of music who volunteers within her community. She is always in search of the best restaurants and their finest dishes.

Sameen is a dynamic operations leader and transformation strategist with nearly two decades of experience delivering impactful results across diverse technology organizations, from Fortune 500s to startups and pre/post-IPO companies. Passionate about driving change and empowering teams, he excels at transforming visions into reality. His expertise includes elevating talent practices, optimizing processes, and successfully launching new products and services within complex global licensing, regulatory, and operational environments.

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Prior roles include leading technology and process transformation at Gannett (launching their first mobile and VR apps), building the first back-office and short-term contract application for the gig economy at MBO Partners, leading agile delivery at Slalom Consulting (and helping launch their DC office), and driving significant growth and international expansion at OnDeck Capital (including same-day funding, M&A, regulatory work, and data/cybersecurity initiatives). Sameen also contributed to BlockFi's rapid growth, scaling their valuation and ARR. Most recently, he standardized operations and delivery at Protocol Labs (helping establish PL Venture Studio) and at Peloton, where he launched international gift cards, entered German and Austrian markets, and standardized product delivery.