Leadership

Andrew Clark has been investing in specialty finance and alternative assets since 2006. He is the Founder, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Eastern Asset Management (EAM), an alternative investment firm that grew out of the acquisition of a non-performing legal asset portfolio from a large hedge fund in 2016. After rehabilitating the acquired assets, EAM expanded through the acquisition of an operating company and built one of the industry's leading specialty finance platforms.

‍

Today, EAM invests across specialty finance, structured credit, operating businesses and select public and private market debt and equity opportunities. The firm's approach is straightforward: identify overlooked or misunderstood assets, build long-term value through disciplined underwriting and active management, and invest where returns are driven by fundamentals rather than broader market movements.

‍

Over the course of his career, Mr. Clark has structured, financed and managed more than $1 billion of specialty finance and litigation finance transactions. He has led underwriting, portfolio management and financing activities across multiple market cycles, working with institutional investors, banks and specialty finance counterparties to structure warehouse facilities, asset-backed credit facilities and other complex financing arrangements. He has also overseen acquisitions, servicing platform integrations and the development of the operational, risk management and compliance infrastructure needed to scale investment platforms.

‍

Earlier in his career, Mr. Clark was a founding partner of Westbury Management Group, the parent company of LawCash, one of the pioneers in legal finance. Before Westbury, he worked at Freeman & Co. (now part of Houlihan Lokey), Plainfield Asset Management, and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, where he focused on specialty finance, asset-backed lending and alternative credit investments.

‍

Mr. Clark earned a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School. He lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, with his wife and twin daughters. Outside the office, he enjoys offshore sailboat racing, skiing and traveling with his family.

‍

Mike Lungariello is an accomplished executive with over two decades of leadership experience in specialty finance and asset management. As President of Eastern, Mr. Lungariello partners closely with the firm’s Founder and Executive Team to guide long-term strategic planning and oversee the company’s continued growth and operational execution.

‍

Mr. Lungariello brings deep expertise across capital markets, strategic finance, mergers and acquisitions, and the scaling of high-growth enterprises. His career has encompassed both private and institutional capital environments, with a particular focus on complex financial structures and emerging sectors.

‍

Immediately prior to joining Eastern, Mr. Lungariello served as Chief Financial Officer of Axiom Space, a leader in human spaceflight and commercial space infrastructure. He previously held the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Quantum Space, a venture-backed enterprise focused on cislunar space infrastructure and services.

‍

Earlier in his career, Mr. Lungariello was President and Chief Executive Officer of an aviation-focused specialty finance platform, where he also served on the Board of Directors and led the organization through multiple capital raises and strategic growth initiatives. He was previously a member of the executive leadership team of a privately held ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance) cargo operator, which was subsequently acquired by Atlas Air.

‍

Mr. Lungariello holds a Master of Business Administration from the New York University Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Manhattan College.

‍

He resides in Westchester County, New York, with his wife and four children. In his personal time, he enjoys skiing, playing guitar, following motorsports, and spending time with 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.

‍

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.

‍

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.

‍

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.

‍

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.

‍

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 is a seasoned executive with over 18 years of experience in specialty finance as both an operator and investor.  This experience includes a distinguished career in litigation finance growing businesses that focus on single event personal injury cases.

‍

He began his tenure in the industry as CFO and COO of MedStar Funding, a Texas-based firm focused on personal injury and mass tort litigation. Following MedStar’s successful acquisition by Key Health, he joined the acquiring firm as Vice President, where he led efforts to create the nation’s largest litigation finance platform focused on medical lien receivables.  Key Health was shortly acquired by Oasis Financial.

Micah continued his career at Oasis as Vice President of Analytics, Strategy, and Corporate Development, where he played a key role in executing a roll-up strategy that established Oasis as the largest litigation finance firm in the U.S. for single-event cases. 

Prior to joining Eastern, Micah served as a Vice President at Panos Partners, a PE firm that invests in growing middle market healthcare and business services companies.  Micah’s focus was working with the healthcare portfolio on strategic initiatives and accretive add on acquisitions.

Micah holds an MBA from the University of Oregon and a BBA from The University of Texas at Austin.

‍

Elisa Moss is an accomplished leader, known for building and scaling high-performing organizations, particularly in the legal finance sector. Her career, driven by core values of integrity, hard work, and dedication, has been marked by expertise in sales leadership, operations, business development, and talent acquisition.

‍

Elisa leveraged her extensive experience in sales, operations, leadership, and the legal sector to create her current venture: Founder and CEO of LegalLink Talent, a legal recruiting organization rooted in her ongoing practice of matching talent with opportunities.

‍

Prior to LegalLink, Elisa's entrepreneurial spirit led her to co-found Momentum Funding, a premier national legal finance company headquartered in Boca Raton, FL, where she served as the Chief Operating Officer. Her vision was to create a leading company in the pre-settlement funding space by helping attorneys and their clients alleviate financial strain.

‍

Prior to Momentum, Elisa was the Vice President of Sales at Oasis Legal Finance, where she was the driving force behind the sales team's growth in the pre-settlement funding sector.  She was also of the initial team members of FinanSure, where she built the sales and operations teams targeting consumers in the student loan market. FinanSure emerged as the industry leader in student loan consolidation, serving 30,000 borrowers annually and financing over $1 billion in student loan assets.

‍

Elisa began her professional career at Motion Recruitment, where she specialized in recruiting in the technology sector.

‍

Elisa holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The Ohio State University (go Buckeyes!) and lives in Delray Beach, FL, with her husband and two children.

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

‍
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.

‍
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.

‍
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.

‍
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.

Carmelena is an experienced finance and strategy executive, with an extensive background in corporate finance, business development, and strategic growth for global enterprises. Her career spans corporate finance and accounting, capital investments, and business development, partnering with enterprises and governments around the world to drive strategic, organic growth. She is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA) license holder.

Prior to joining Eastern, Carmelena held a series of seniorfinance and strategy roles at IBM, including CFO of Business Development, CFO of Americas Power, Controller of Americas Technology, Controller of Americas Software, along with other roles in Planning and Budget for IBM Consulting, and Competitive Intelligence. Across these roles, Carmelena built broad expertise in corporate finance, financial planning, and strategic business development within large global organizations.

‍

Earlier in her career, Carmelena served as a consultant withthe United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where she informedinternational public policy on behalf of the UN to advance global developmentand economic policy initiatives.

Carmelena holds BAs in English and Spanish, an MBA in Finance, and an MPIA in International Political Economy from the University of Pittsburgh, where she was also a Division I softball player. She lives in Fairfield County, CT with her husband and son. Outside of the office, she enjoys outdoor adventures with her husband and son, trying new restaurants, and spending time with family and friends.

‍

Gary Julien is a highly experienced corporate finance, M&A and investment professional in both public and private markets.  He has significant experience across domestic and international M&A, investing on behalf of both public and private companies, including alternative investment firms. He has been leading M&A and direct investments within Aerospace & Defense for over 20 years.

‍

Mr. Julien was previously a Managing Director at Schultze Asset Management, a 25+ year old alternative investment firm, where he was a member of the investment committee and led M&A activities on behalf of the firm.   His activities as Schultze included leading two SPAC M&A investment vehicles that raised more than $300 million and the execution of a successful business combination.

‍

Mr. Julien also led and supported M&A initiatives on behalf of entities controlled by Mario J. Gabelli, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of GAMCO Investors, Inc., including as Executive Vice President, Corporate Development for PMV Acquisition Corp. LICT Corporation and CIBL, Inc.

‍

Mr. Julien was a Senior Vice President at Bronson Point Management, an alternative investment management firm, where he originated, oversaw and analyzed public market investments helping to the firm grow from approximately $70 million in assets under management at launch in 2010 to $1.9 billion in 2014.

‍

Mr. Julien led and supported M&A and corporate finance initiatives for the private investment firm Kanders & Company, Inc. and its affiliates including as Vice President, Corporate Development of Kanders & Company, Clarus Corp. and Highlands Acquisition Corp. He was also Vice President, Corporate Development for Armor Holdings, Inc., an aerospace and defense company and portfolio company of Kanders & Company, where he oversaw M&A and divestitures for the company.  There he executed 15 transactions, investing approximately $1.2 billion. During this period, Armor Holdings’ revenue grew from $305 million to $2.4 billion prior to its sale to BAE Systems plc in July 2007 for $4.5 billion.

‍

Mr. Julien previously worked at Global Crossing Ltd. where he led and supported several M&A, joint ventures and minority investments totaling in excess of $16.0 billion.

‍

Mr. Julien received an MBA with honors in Finance from Columbia Business School and a BS from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.  He lives in Westport, CT, with his wife and dog. In his personal time, he enjoys skiing and biking, listening to music and spending time with his children, family and friends.

‍