SEC Won’t Have Time to Tackle Issue of Mandatory Securities Arbitration

Despite increasing pressure on the SEC to exercise its Dodd-Frank-granted explicit authority to ban mandatory securities arbitration, SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter stated earlier this week, according to a report in Reuters, that the Commission won’t have time to address the issue until 2014, in light of the other mandates of Dodd-Frank.  It’s a shame that the … Continue reading SEC Won’t Have Time to Tackle Issue of Mandatory Securities Arbitration →

Call for Papers – Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field

From Jean Sternlight via the list serv. ————————- University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014 UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law Las Vegas, Nevada In recent years both academics and practitioners … Continue reading Call for Papers – Psychology and Lawyering: Coalescing the Field →

Schwab removes class action waiver from customer agreements

Responding to substantial pressure from regulators and the investing public, the brokerage firm Charles Schwab reversed itself and eliminated the class action waiver clause from its pre-dispute arbitration clause in its customer account agreements. See news coverage here. Readers of this blog know from my previous posts that in early 2012 FINRA brought a disciplinary … Continue reading Schwab removes class action waiver from customer agreements →

If You’re Standing in Front of a Car, You Are In a Poor Negotiating Position

Back in the day Kevin Underhill and I were young associates at large law firms in Kansas City and living the life that only single people with lots of disposable income can.  Now he’s a big time lawyer in San Francisco and has the funniest legal blog there is – Lowering the Bar – and I’m simply … Continue reading If You’re Standing in Front of a Car, You Are In a Poor Negotiating Position →

After Shootings, Morgan State U. Will Train Students in Conflict Resolution

Article from this morning’s online Chronicle of Higher Education here. MM — By Ann Schnoebelen After two shootings on its campus last semester, Morgan State University is taking some of the same security measures increasingly common elsewhere: more officers, a tighter campus perimeter, town-hall meetings to discuss public safety. But the small, historically black college … Continue reading After Shootings, Morgan State U. Will Train Students in Conflict Resolution →

Tennessee court invalidates brokerage firm’s arbitration clause as unconscionable

Yesterday I blogged about stepped-up political pressures on the Securities and Exchange Commission to outlaw mandatory arbitration agreements in customers’ account agreements with their brokerage firms.  The pressures are not coming just from politicians.  Last week, a Tennessee appellate court refused to enforce a pre-dispute arbitration clause in a brokerage firms’ account agreement with a customer … Continue reading Tennessee court invalidates brokerage firm’s arbitration clause as unconscionable →

Added Pressure on SEC to Eliminate Mandatory Securities Arbitration

1 Comment

In the wake of a FINRA disciplinary hearing panel decision not to enforce its own rules against broker-dealer Charles Schwab barring class action waivers in customer-broker account agreements because of the Federal Arbitration Act (see my previous blog posts about that decision here and here), investor rights advocates have stepped up their efforts to press the Securities … Continue reading Added Pressure on SEC to Eliminate Mandatory Securities Arbitration →

Secret Link