Arcadia Finance, a new litigation funding firm focused on commercial litigation and arbitration, officially launched, led by litigation funding veterans David Kerstein, Ronit Cohen and Joshua Libling. The Arcadia leadership team has decades of funding and litigation experience, having collectively originated or underwritten over 80 transactions with funding commitments of more than $400 million.
Arcadia has secured access to over $100 million in investment capital with a broad mandate to offer solutions to all participants in the legal market. Arcadia expects most of its deals to be in the $2 million to $25 million range but can fund matters with commitments as low as $500,000 and as high as necessary.
“I believe that the future of litigation funding is client-focused, and that means being able to meet clients where they are and cover the waterfront of potential litigation-backed investment opportunities,” Kerstein said.
“The team of Dave, Joshua and Ronit are recognized and valued across the industry as one of the most trusted, experienced and successful funding teams. They are client-focused, fair and easy to work with,” Roman Silberfeld, national trial chair at Robins Kaplan, a trial law firm, said. “Their deep expertise and stellar credentials in not only litigation and arbitration but also in the funding industry enable them to quickly come up with creative and flexible solutions for their clients. They are at the very top of the industry.”
“At Arcadia Finance, we prioritize what matters most – our clients’ cases. We understand the challenges you face, having been trial lawyers ourselves. That’s why we created our ‘frictionless funding’ approach,” Cohen said. “It means streamlined processes, clear communication and efficient decision-making, all aimed at getting clients the capital they need, fast. This empowers lawyers to focus on what they do best–advocating for their clients and achieving the best possible outcomes. Our transparent approach gives clients the information they need at every step, fostering trust and building a diversified, well-considered portfolio for investors.”
The Arcadia Team
- Ronit Cohen, co-founder and managing director:One of the most experienced professionals in the funding industry, Cohen spent seven years at Bentham IMF, now Omni Bridgeway, where she helped launch their first office. She then joined Validity Finance 5 years ago, shortly after its launch. Cohen’s focus is on underwriting, having spent over a decade leading, creating and monitoring litigation merits and risk projects. At Validity, she also headed up a pro bono effort to provide capital to wrongfully accused individuals during the pendency of their civil actions. Prior to joining the funding industry, Cohen was a litigator at Simpson Thacher and O’Melveny and Meyers. She received a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Columbia University, graduating as a James Kent Scholar.
- David Kerstein, co-founder and managing director:Kerstein is another industry pioneer. He was one of Validity Finance’s co-founders and served as managing director and senior investment officer. In addition to co-leading Validity’s origination and structuring teams, he helped to guide Validity’s strategic growth into new and expanded markets and avenues for investment. Prior to co-founding Validity, Kerstein was an investment manager at Bentham IMF. He has been named among Lawdragon’s “Global 100 Leaders in Legal Finance” and selected by Who’s Who Legal as a “Thought Leader in Third Party Funding.” Prior to entering the litigation finance industry, Kerstein spent 15 years as a trial lawyer focused on complex commercial litigation and arbitration at Gibson Dunn. He received his J.D. from University of Pennsylvania (Toll Scholar) and a B.A. from University of Pennsylvania (Benjamin Franklin Scholar).
- Joshua Libling, co-founder and managing director: Libling was a member of Validity Finance’s senior leadership team with primary responsibility for risk analysis and pricing tools. His focus is on translating subjective legal merits assessments into trackable risk data that informs Arcadia’s investment decisions and portfolio construction. He is also responsible for modeling and operations at Arcadia. Libling was previously a litigator at Boies Schiller Flexner, where he was involved in some of the country’s highest-profile and highest-stakes litigations and has worked extensively on appellate matters. He clerked for Judges on SDNY and the Second Circuit. Libling has been named among Lawdragon’s “Global 100 Leaders in Legal Finance.” He received a J.D. from NYU Law School (magna cum laude) and his undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago.
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