Investor Arbitrations

If you have a problem with a brokerage firm or investment advisor, Malecki Law is a skilled and proven New York FINRA Investor Arbitration law firm with decades of experience and a stellar track record. Lead attorney Jenice Malecki has been an advisor to the FINRA Arbitration Board of Directors through the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee, as well as commented on and helped form new FINRA Arbitration rules and helped educate arbitrators for FINRA’s forum.

Malecki Law will guide you from the intake of your case through the hearing in a way that makes the process as easy and transparent as possible. We believe you should always know what to expect, what is going on in your case, and have material input in the strategy and focus. It is our job to present you with options both for how to proceed with the case, as well as how to resolve it. Your problem is our mission and we leave no stone unturned.

Our investor arbitration clients range from prominent sports figures and Fortune 500 entrepreneurs to more vulnerable groups like retirees and elderly widows, who lost their nest eggs and the safety of their retirement income as a result of fraudulent and/or unsuitable advice from financial professionals.

Our New York FINRA Investor Arbitration law firm has experience and success bringing actions at FINRA, the SEC and other self-regulatory forums, as well as private arbitration forums like JAMS Endispute and the American Arbitration Association (AAA) for individuals and groups including:

• Individual Investors
• Institutional Investors
• Foreign Investors
• Hedge Funds and its Participants
• Foundations
• Endowments
• Municipalities

Our FINRA Investor Arbitration lawyers in New York zealously prosecute investor rights. Our team has successfully recovered tens of millions of dollars in securities industry settlements and awards for investors through arbitration and mediation.

Understanding Securities Arbitrations How Do I File a FINRA Arbitration?

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) handles most securities arbitrations, with limited exceptions. Some specific contracts, usually larger disputes with investment advisory firms, designate the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or JAMS Endispute.

As an industry-standard, investors sign arbitration agreements as part of new account forms with a brokerage firm, with disputes to be handled by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory body for all brokerage firms in the United States. FINRA’s constitution also allows investors to choose arbitration (unilaterally) if the agreement with the brokerage firm does not have an arbitration clause.

How Do I File a FINRA Arbitration?

Arbitration is an alternative to court. It is like being in court, with a lot less formality and expense involved. Instead of a courthouse, it takes place in a conference room. It all starts with the filing of a statement of claim – what incourt would be called a complaint. Instead of a judge, there is a chairperson that makes discovery rulings in the arbitration. Our FINRA Investor Arbitration attorneys in New York can guide you through the process from filing to hearing – and lawyers in general are statistically proven to fair better than pro se (self-represented) parties in the FINRA forum.

There is a discovery period but no depositions. After discovery, the parties either settle or go to a hearing starts where there are opening statements, closing statements, witness examinations and cross-examinations, documentary evidence introduced, objections, motions. A decision is made approximately 30 days after the close of the hearing. A party can win their entire claim, nothing, or anything in between. Arbitrators are not required to give reasons for their decision.

If you are an industry professional, by signing a Form U4, your broker-dealer is required to arbitrate with you, unless a specific agreement has been signed designating another forum for the dispute.

The arbitration process begins with customers filing a statement of claim for arbitration with FINRA. Find out more about filing FINRA Arbitrations here: How Do I File a FINRA Arbitration?

The most common investor claims include:

• Scams (Fraud), Omissions and Misrepresentations under Federal Securities Laws
• Elder Fraud and Affinity Fraud
• Overconcentration
• Unsuitability (Recommendations not in your “Best Interest” per Regulation BI)
• Unauthorized Trading
• Churning / Overtrading
• Theft (Conversion)

Click here for detailed information on Typical Investor Claims

Click here for FINRA Rule 12206 which speaks to “Time Limitation on Submission of Claims.”

FINRA continues to be the largest dispute resolution forum in the securities industry and they are making the treatment of senior and other vulnerable investors a key priority in 2016.

See article on FINRA Zoom arbitrations and mediations

Click here for our significant representations by our New York Investor Arbitration and Mediation team

For further reading, please check the following blog posts:

• Leveraged and Inverse ETFs Can Spell Trouble for Investors Who Buy Them and Brokerage Firms Who Sell Them
• Senior-Aged Investors and other Conservative Investors Likely at Risk in Current Low-Yield Environment
• Leveraged ETFs Remain a Risky Investment, Not Suitable for Most Individual Investors
• New FINRA Rule Designed To Help Protect Seniors And Other Vulnerable Investors
• How Financial Advisors Can Better Protect Elderly Investors
• 6 Telltale Signs of a Bad Investment
• Is my Financial Advisor Allowed to Trade in my Account Without my Permission?
• My Money Was Stolen Out of My Brokerage Account, What Can I Do? Malecki Law Files Claim Regarding Identity Theft Fraud in Brokerage Account
• Are My Investments Losing Money Because of the Market or Am I Just in the Wrong Investments?
• Are Private Placements a Tool for “Troubled Brokers”? That’s What a Wall Street Journal Study Suggests
• What Are ETFs, Exchange-Traded Funds, and How Do They Work? Are ETFs Safe or Risky? Not All ETFs Are Created Equal
• Top Signs of a Ponzi Scheme and How to Respond
• How Do I Recover My Investment Losses in FINRA Arbitration?
• Ponzi Schemes On the Rise?
• How Come My Portfolio Did Not Rebound With the Market?
• What To Expect When You File a FINRA Arbitration Claim
• Can FINRA Arbitration Claims Be Brought Against a Bank and Its Employees?
• Can a Broker-Dealer Firm be Sued for Failure to Supervise a Broker?
• Can a Clearing Firm be Liable for Losses in an Investment Account?
• Can FINRA Arbitrations be Conducted Remotely by Live Video or Online?
• SEC’s Amended Definition of Accredited Investor Creates More Opportunity, More Risk
• Is it Possible to Recover Stock Market Investment Losses? For Retirees Misled by a Broker, the Answer is Yes.
• Has Your Broker Employed an Options Trading Strategy That Suits Your Investment Goals and Priorities?

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