INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT FIRM’S GRANT TO LAW SCHOOL

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University in White Plains has received a five-year grant to name its Investor Rights Clinic after RealFi Financial LLC, a technology-driven, alternative investment management firm. The newly named RealFi Funding Investor Rights Clinic is recognized across the country as a leader in arbitration and securities dispute resolution and is considered one of most unique experiential learning opportunities at the Haub School of Law. 

For the past quarter century, the RealFi Funding Investor Rights Clinic has provided students with direct legal experience under the supervision of licensed attorneys who are not only practitioners, but also trained in individually educating and mentoring students. The clinic makes an impact on the community by providing access to the justice system to investors of modest means who otherwise might be unable to afford representation. 

Under the auspices of John Jay Legal Services Inc., a not-for-profit legal services firm that houses and runs the clinic and externship programs at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law, student interns in the RealFi Funding Investor Rights Clinic represent small investors with claims against their brokers in arbitration and mediation proceedings before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). Since its inception, more than 200 students have participated in the clinic, reviewing hundreds of inquiries and handling approximately 100 cases for investors. Clinic students have secured almost $900,000 in recovered funds for their clients. 

“We deeply appreciate RealFi”™s generous gift, which will help the clinic continue to expand its important work to bring access to justice to small investors and provide our students with additional educational and advocacy opportunities,” said Professor Elissa Germaine, executive director of John Jay Legal Services and director of the RealFi Funding Investor Rights Clinic. 

The grant from RealFi was inspired by its founder and CEO John C. Lettera, who is a 1999 graduate of Haub Law and also serves as an adjunct professor at the law school, teaching corporate finance to upper-level students. Lettera is another alumni success story for the law school. He has more than 21 years of legal experience and over 27 years”™ experience in real estate debt originations and acquisitions as well as equity investing. He founded and has successfully managed two financing funds worth over $100 million. At RealFi, based in White Plains, he employs 16 graduates of Haub Law, building and mentoring a management team with a diverse combination of legal, financial, management, real estate, transactional and investment skills. His teaching and philanthropic commitments are among many contributions to the law school. In 2013, he received the distinguished Haub Law Leadership Award recognizing his support. 

Since opening its doors in 1976, Elisabeth Haub School of Law has over 9,000 alumni around the world. It launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978 and it has long been ranked among the world”™s leading university programs, with a current No. 1 ranking by U.S. World and News Report.