Virtually all customers of FINRA-registered broker-dealer firms (in essence, all broker-dealers) are required to arbitrate their disputes with those firms and their associated persons. Many of those disputes are required to be arbitrated in the FINRA Dispute Resolution forum.  Currently, FINRA permits parties to be represented by non-attorneys (NAR) (subject to a few restrictions  such … Continue reading FINRA Seeks Comment on Non-Attorney Representation in FINRA Arbitration →

Twenty years ago, Pace Law School opened the first securities arbitration clinic in the country in which students, under faculty supervision, offer free representation to investors of modest means who have disputes with their securities brokerage firms  and/or individual brokers that are required to be arbitrated.  The Clinic (now known as the Pace Investor Rights … Continue reading Pace Investor Rights Clinic 20th Anniversary Celebration →

FOI Peter Reilly just announced the winners of this year’s ABA Boskey Writing Competition, stating: “We had another year of very strong papers.”  The winner and runner-up papers were: WINNER: John Kelly (Loyola School of Law, Los Angeles), “The Cannabis Industry: Harvesting the Benefits of a Counter-Narrative Model to Arbitration” RUNNER-UP: Brian Holb (The Ohio State … Continue reading Winners of ABA Boskey Writing Competition →

In a highly-anticipated decision (at least for those in the arbitration world), the Second Circuit yesterday vacated the district court’s opinion in Meyer v. Kalanick, 200 F. Supp.3d 408 (S.D.N.Y. 2016), which was authored by the well-known Judge Jed Rakoff.  The Second Circuit, in Meyer v. Uber Technologies, 2017 WL 3526682 (Aug. 17, 2017), found that plaintiffs, … Continue reading Second Circuit Reverses Judge Rakoff in Uber Arbitration Decision →

Whether an arbitration award should include reasons, authorities or other explanation remains hotly debated. In securities arbitration, despite pressure from investor advocates to add transparency to the FINRA forum by requiring arbitrators to issue explained awards, FINRA’s current rule requires a panel to include an explanation in an award only upon a joint request from … Continue reading FINRA Arbitrator Writes Explained Award To Create Precedent →

Congress created the Office of the Investor Advocate of the Securities and Exchange Commission in the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 to, among other things, “(A) assist retail investors in resolving significant problems such investors may have with the Commission or with self-regulatory organizations (SROs); (B) identify areas in which investors would benefit from changes in the regulations of the Commission … Continue reading SEC Office of Investor Advocate Praises Securities Arbitration Clinics →

From the blog of the New York State Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section: In August 2015, Resolution Roundtable, the blog site for the Dispute Resolution Section of NYSBA, began posting weekly questions to seek feedback and insights on various alternative dispute resolution (ADR) topics. Traffic to the blog site thereafter greatly increased by ADR users, … Continue reading Fascinating compilation of comments on ADR posts →

For those who were not able to attend the AALS Annual Meeting in San Francisco in January, a podcast of the ADR Section’s Program on Comparative Commercial Arbitration is now posted on the AALS website.  (You need a AALS password to access the podcast.)  I moderated the program, and Professors Hiro Aragaki (Loyola-LA), Manuel Gomez … Continue reading Podcast of Comparative Commercial Arbitration Program →

I am sorry to report the unexpected passing of Margaret Shaw, a pioneer in the ADR field and founder of ADR Associates, which merged into JAMS.  I did not know her personally, but I (and my students) benefited greatly from her wisdom captured in numerous teaching videos in which she played the role of mediator. … Continue reading Passing of Margaret Shaw →

I am pleased to circulate a Call for Proposals for the AALS-ADR annual Works-in-Progress Conference: The AALS Alternative Dispute Resolution Section is seeking a host for the 11th Annual Works-in-Progress Conference to take place in the fall of 2017.  The WIP Conference has become one of the “must attends” in the ADR academic field.  Previous … Continue reading Call for Proposals: AALS ADR Works-in-Progress Conference →