Relying on the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and noting that the FAA “enumerates limited grounds on which a federal court may vacate, modify, or correct an arbitral award,” the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona...more
Motions to vacate an adverse arbitration award are rarely granted by courts. Indeed, that should come as no surprise to anyone inasmuch as the awards rendered at the conclusion of the arbitral process are explicitly designed...more
Not too long ago, a single, small BD experienced a bizarre combination of regulatory overzealousness and regulatory indifference, by the SEC and FINRA, respectively. These things, sadly, happen all the time, but what...more
I just read this article... – admittedly authored by lawyers, Ethan Brecher and Ana Montoya, whose website provides that one of their three principal areas of practice is representing investors “who have been defrauded by...more
Thomas Sanduski petitioned to vacate a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration award of $418,518 to Charles Schwab, claiming that one of the arbitrators was partial to Charles Schwab and that the panel was guilty...more
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently rejected a claimant’s effort to vacate the dismissal of his FINRA claim following his repeated failure to comply with various deadlines. ...more
The petitioner filed a complaint seeking to vacate an arbitration award, and the respondents moved to dismiss. Despite “the deferential standard of review” given to arbitration awards and the petitioner’s “significantly...more
This case arises out of plaintiff John B. Napoleone’s failure to repay a sign-on bonus of $100,000 to his former employer, defendant S2K Financial LLC, under the terms of his employment agreement. S2K commenced an arbitration...more
The plaintiff commenced an arbitration proceeding with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) against two of his former investment brokers and their former employers — Concorde and Westminster. The plaintiff...more
A New York federal court recently confirmed an arbitration award related to the alleged theft of more than $100 million from a Luxembourg company, SLS Capital. SLS’s liquidator in bankruptcy court then initiated a FINRA...more
A district court has decided against giving an arbitration panel a third chance to get it right after the court found that the panel manifestly disregarded the law in its initial and modified arbitration awards....more
A recent decision out of the Suffolk County Commercial Division underscores the importance of staying on top of your mail if you plan on leaving New York for an extended period of time....more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini provided insight about the timing of vacatur requests under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). In this case, citing the FAA, the court denied defendant's vacatur arguments for...more
A panel of the Second Circuit has, in an unpublished summary order, emphasized the high bar that must be cleared by a party seeking to vacate an arbitration award. The matter arose from the decision of a financial advisor...more
A Colorado federal court affirmed a FINRA arbitration award, despite a cross-motion to vacate the award on the bases of alleged panel misconduct; exceeding its powers; manifest disregard of the law; and that the award did not...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini discussed a case involving an international family dispute over the holdings in a brokerage account. In this instance, the primary owner of the account – a mother living in Columbia...more
The background of this matter could be found here. In sum, Plaintiffs Dr. Luis Ortiz-Espinosa and his wife Maritza Soto-Garcia, the conjugal partnership they formed, Espinosa-Soto, and Luis Ortiz-Espinosa, as trustee of...more
UBS Financial Services’ motion to vacate a FINRA arbitration award was denied, despite its claims that the panel was improperly chosen and that the panels damages award was flawed in that it did not impose an offset. UBS...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini commented on a case in which a former trader fraudulently purchased $1 billion in Apple shares that ultimately forced the closure of the trader's firm, Rochdale Securities. Rochdale...more
This case involved an underlying arbitration before an arbitration panel operating under the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) rules, which was brought by Judith and Kenneth Goldman against their financial...more
Raymond James had initiated a FINRA arbitration because Singh, a financial advisor who was a registered representative of Raymond James, had refused to indemnify Raymond James pursuant to the terms of their agreement....more
In a case involving a FINRA arbitration between investors and their financial advisor, Judge Anita S. Brody of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that she did not have the...more