Ari Ruben

Ruben has played a key role in securing major victories in complex trials and arbitrations.

• TGC Partners et al. v. SIG China et al. (Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas). Ruben’s team represented co-founders of Susquehanna International Group’s Chinese venture capital business (SIG China) in a jury trial against their former employer. The trial, which implicated SIG China’s ByteDance investment, generated extensive media coverage. Read more here and here. The case settled favorably one business day after Ruben’s direct and redirect examinations of plaintiffs’ venture capital expert.

Plaintiffs with some of the highest-stake claims in the country entrust Ruben with prosecuting their cases.

Complex Commercial:

• Trust for Advised Portfolios v. US Bancorp Fund Services & Eisner Amper (N.Y. Supreme Court, Commercial Division). Represents the Special Litigation Committee of the Trust for Advised Portfolios in this malpractice action arising out of the Infinity Q Diversified Alpha Fund’s implosion. Ruben deposed several key witnesses, including the former chief compliance officer and defense experts. Defendant Eisner Amper settled on confidential terms, while its co-Defendant US Bank’s summary judgment motion is pending. Read coverage of the events underlying this suit here and here.

Class Action:

• Zaben v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of New York et al. (S.D.N.Y.), Arbuckle Funding, LLC v. Talcott Resolution Life & Annuity Insurance Company (S.D.N.Y.), & Toolan v. New York Life Insurance & Annuity Insurance Company (S.D.N.Y.). In three suits, Ruben represents putative classes of thousands of policyowners alleging that carriers breached their respective policies by failing to adjust cost-of-insurance rates after the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act. Discovery is ongoing in each matter.

Qui Tam:

• State of California ex rel. OnTheGo Wireless, LLC et al. v. Cellco P’ship DBA Verizon Wireless et al. (California Superior Court). Represented the whistleblower and over 30 local government entities in the state of California, (including the CSU system, UC system, and Los Angeles County) against the nation’s largest wireless providers for a fraudulent overcharging scheme. Over more than a year, Ruben crisscrossed the country to obtain critical deposition admissions that helped lead to a settlement for a combined deal valued at $175 million. 

Ruben leverages the skills he has honed as a plaintiffs’ advocate to sharpen his defense of businesses on the other side of the “v.” That perspective makes him a more effective, trial-ready defense lawyer—one who anticipates plaintiffs’ strategies and pressures from the outset. He has secured defense-side victories in courts across the country:

• Lone Star Production Co. et al. v. Rushmore Acquisitions 1 LLC et al. (Texas District Court). Successfully defended Rushmore Resource Partners (“RRP”), an exploration and production company, from a $200 million+ breach-of-contract claim in Harris County, Texas. Ruben handled numerous aspects of the case, elicited key deposition admissions, and helped obtain a confidential settlement.
• Columbus Life Insurance Company v. Wilmington Trust Company (Delaware Superior). Obtained a favorable settlement for the policyowner against insurer seeking to void two $5 million life insurance policies for STOLI while keeping $8 million in premiums. Ruben took or defended 27 depositions, argued all dispositive motions, and managed all aspects of discovery and trial preparation. 
• A. Rama Krishna et al. v. Pzena Investment Management Inc. (Delaware Chancery). Obtained dismissal by the Delaware Court of Chancery of contract claims that jeopardized Pzena Investment Company’s $168 million go-private transaction.