Benasra vs. Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, No. B147537 (Cal. App., 2/13/02) The favored mechanism for dealing with disqualification of counsel in an arbitration proceeding must be for the arbitrators to decide the issue. When Plaintiff looked across the arbitration table and saw former counsel representing the other side, he cried […]
Law
This archive contains all of the articles, posts and links at the site in the Law category.
Eligibility and Attorney Fee Awards Under Review
Courts accept cases dealing with Eligibility and Attorney Fee Awards ELIGIBILITY AND ATTORNEY FEES UNDER REVIEW: The Florida Supreme Court is reviewing its position on the awarding of attorney fees in arbitration and the effect of the six-year eligibility provision on a litigants claims. Barron Chase v. Moser was accepted […]
Futures Account Agreement Does Not Encompass Claims Relating to Separate Agreement
Crotser vs. Smith Barney & Co., Inc., NO 228226 (Mich. App., 4/30/02) Appealability * Scope of Agreement * Arbitration Agreement * Competing Agreements. A futures account agreement does not encompass claims relating to separate consulting services provided by the FCM. Plaintiff entered into an agreement with a predecessor firm (Hutton) […]
Attorney Fee Provision in Note Works Against Brokerage Firm
BELL & STANTON v. PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES, INC., NASD ID #99-04338 (San Diego, 5/21/01): In California, a provision for attorney fees in a promissory note or agreement is deemed reciprocal, so that both sides can claim such entitlement. In this case, it seems that such a provision worked to the detriment […]
Arbitration Briefs – Procedure Fault is Grounds for Appeal
Failure to Follow Procedure May Be Grounds for Vacatur But only if the moving party preserved its objections during the arbitration process BROOK v. PEAK INTL., No. 01-50339 (5th Cir.., 6/13/02). The underlying arbitration, which Mr. Brook lost, concerned an employment dispute over severance benefits. The Employment Agreement between the […]
Appeal Does Not Extend Time to Pay
Non-summary suspension proceeding for non-payment of an Award recently concluded with the suspension of a broker–dealer who is currently challenging the Award before the Ninth Circuit. Baraban Securities, nka Interfirst Capital Corporation, was held liable by a Portland-based Arbitration Panel for $53,400 in compensatory damages in February 2000 (Viersen v. […]
Insider Trading – The Legal and Illegal
Illegal insider trading is a serious securities law violation that carries potential civil and criminal penalties. Civilly, the penalties can be as large as three times the gross profit on the trading. An insider trading investigation by the SEC requires experienced securities counsel, as the initial investigation often dictates the […]
FINRA – Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, known as FINRA, is a private corporation which is known as a “self regulatory organization.” meaning that is has the authority to regulate its membership. FINRA’s main functions are FINRA Enforcement and FINRA Dispute Resolution FINRA is the primary regulator for the securities industry, and […]
Market Timing Is Legal
Lying to Investors Is Not. By Mark J. Astarita, Esq. While you would never know it from the press reports, and some pretty irresponsible statements from some regulators, market timing is not illegal. It is a perfectly legal trading strategy, which has been in existence for years, with the knowledge […]
Arbitrator Authority to Decide Jurisdiction
Poweragent, Inc. vs. Electronic Data Systems Corp. Objections to jurisdiction may be generally decided by the courts, but once the arbitrators rule, the authority cannot be challenged. POWERAGENT, INC. v. ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORP., No. 02-17022 (9th Cir., 2/25/04). Objections to arbitral jurisdiction, i.e., arbitrability issues, may be generally decided […]