Securities Law Commons^™

Securities Mediation: Dispute Resolution For The Individual Investor, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Part I of this article will provide a brief history of ADR in the securities industry (primarily arbitration), and then will describe the emergence of mediation as an alternative to arbitration. Part II will explore the state and federal statutory regulations that arguably govern the securities mediation process, and their impact on procedural and substantive justice. In particular, this section will review the applicability to and impact on securities mediation of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (1934 Act), the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), and state mediation statutes, including the Uniform Mediation Act. In this section, I will argue that …

The Explained Award Of Damocles: Protection Or Peril In Securities Arbitration, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

NASD's proposed rule change requiring arbitrators to provide written explanations in arbitration awards upon the customers' request (the “explained award proposal”), which was published for public comment in July 2005, is the clearest example of NASD's proposing a rule change in response to investors' complaints. “We have found that investors want to know more about how a panel reaches its decision,” stated NASD Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert R. Glauber in announcing the explained award proposal. “By giving investors the option of requiring a written explanation of an arbitration panel's decision, we will increase investor confidence in the fairness …

Helping Those Who Are Helping Us: Sarbanes-Oxley Whistleblower Protection And Its Interplay With Arbitration, Adam Fisher

Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

The accounting profession took a major blow to its credibility in 2002 when numerous scandals surfaced on the front pages of newspapers seemingly everyday. The most notable stories told of two women who, despite the enormous pressure and harassment they knew they would face, came forward to reveal the ugly truth behind the facades of America's corporate skyscrapers. Cynthia Cooper and Sherron Watkins, employees at WorldCom and Enron respectively, blew the whistle on major accounting frauds at these companies. Their employers' retaliation was harsh and swift, revealing the truth about how todays' corporate juggernauts operate.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

The "Duty" To Be A Rational Shareholder, David A. Hoffman

ExpressO

How and when do courts determine that corporate disclosures are actionable under the federal securities laws? The applicable standard is materiality: would a (mythical) "reasonable investor" have considered the disclosures important. As I establish through empirical and statistical testing of 500 cases analyzing the materiality standard, judicial findings of immateriality are remarkably common, and have been stable over time. Materiality's scope results in the dismissal of a large number of claims, and creates a set of cases in which courts attempt to explain and defend their vision of who is, and is not, a "reasonable investor." Thus, materiality provides an …

Over-Preemption Of State Vacatur Law: State Courts And The Faa, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article will examine the state courts' approach to FAA preemption on a vacatur motion since the most recent Supreme Court FAA preemption decisions. This Article will demonstrate that, with little or no analysis, state courts over-apply the FAA to commercial arbitration awards, particularly the "manifest disregard" prong, causing what I call "over-preemption" and frustrating their own state's interests in the application of its arbitration law. Part II of this Article will briefly review Supreme Court FAA preemption jurisprudence. Part III of this Article will use illustrative state court decisions to demonstrate that the state courts are applying FAA preemption …

The Selection Of An Arbitrator: A Human Resource Management Perspective, Kenneth Anderson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Making It Up As They Go Along: The Role Of Law In Securities Arbitration, Barbara Black, Jill I. Gross

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Making It Up As They Go Along: The Role Of Law In Securities Arbitration, Barbara Black, Jill I. Gross

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

What is the current role of the law in securities arbitration? Given the difficulties investors would encounter in pleading and proving their claims in court, they may well be better off in a system where less attention is paid to the law and more to the equities of the actual dispute before the arbitration panel. While this is not a system where accountability and predictability of results can be achieved, investors may, in fact, fare better than they might expect. It follows then that if equitable considerations enhance rather than subtract from investors' chances of recovery, then investors need not …

Securities Regulation As Lobster Trap: A Credible Commitment Theory Of Mandatory Disclosure, Edward Rock

Cardozo Law Review

What functions does the existing mandatory disclosure system serve? In this Article, I argue that the existing SEC system can be understood as providing issuers with a mechanism for making a credible commitment to high quality, comprehensive disclosure for an indefinite period into the future. This credible commitment device is particularly useful to new domestic issuers and to foreign issuers seeking to tap the U.S. capital markets. This credible commitment justification explains the striking but little discussed practical and formal asymmetry between the ease of entry into the SEC system and the difficulty of exit from it. I then consider …

Rustic Justice: Community And Coercion Under The Federal Arbitration Act, Katherine V.W. Stone

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Arbitration clauses are appearing in a wide variety of consumer transactions, including routine product purchase forms, residential leases, housing association charters, medical consent forms, banking and credit card applications, and employment handbooks. In the past fifteen years, the Supreme Court has reinterpreted the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) so as to grant tremendous deference to private arbitral tribunals. By doing so, it has altered the landscape of civil litigation, taking many consumer claims out of the legal system and relegating them to private tribunals. In this Article, Professor Stone assesses the recent trend toward the privatization of civil justice in light …

Commercial Arbitration In The U.S.: The Arbitrability Of Disputes Arising From Statute-Based Claims, Sylvie Frankignoul

LLM Theses and Essays

A leading contemporary expert in arbitration has explained: "The concept of arbitrability determines the point at which the experience of contractual freedom ends and the public mission of adjudication begins. In effect, it establishes a dividing line between the transactional pursuit of private rights and courts' role as custodians and interpreters of the public interest." 1 A major part of the arbitrability doctrine deals with the kind of claims that can fall within the scope of agreements for private dispute resolution. Arbitration clauses are an integral part of the parties' transactions. Nevertheless, the American judiciary historically has refused to enforce …

Should Mandatory Written Opinions Be Required In All Securities Arbitrations?: The Practical And Legal Implications To The Securities Industry , Lynn Katzler

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Generating Precedent In Securities Industry Arbitration, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

The author charts the progress made by the securities industry’s dispute resolution system as it went from judicial litigation to a system that relies almost exclusively on arbitration. Further advances were made by the adoption of the 1989 Rules Amendments, which, by introducing prehearing conferences and setting deadlines for document exchanges, cleared up many procedural issues. However, one serious problem remains: The present system does not provide a means to generate case precedent. The author suggests various ways to cure this defect.

Arbitration Of A Securities Dispute—An Overview For The Practitioner, Richard C. Downing, Patrick R. James

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arbitration Of Securities Disputes: Rodriguez And New Arbitration Rules Leave Investors Holding A Mixed Bag, William C. Hermann

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

An Up-To-Date Review Of Judicial, Legislative, And Regulatory Developments In Arbitration With Financial Institutions, Mahlon M. Frankhauser, Linda M. Gardner

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Mandatory Securities Industry Arbitration: The Problems And The Solution, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

Many of the perceived problems with the securities arbitration system do not reflect deficiencies in the operation of the current system, but rather are a result of the very qualities that make arbitration attractive. For example, participants in arbitration have a limited right of appeal from arbitration awards precisely because they contractually agreed to forego judicial litigation and instead have their disputes considered in a more expeditious and less expensive forum. It is reasonable to believe that if arbitration awards were appealable for the full range of reasons for which judicial decisions may be appealed, the efficiency of the arbitration …

Shearson/American Express V. Mcmahon: The Diminishing Role Of Courts In Securities Disputes, Craig L. Griffin

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Arbitration In The Securities Industry: Too Much Of A Good Thing?, David A. Lipton

Scholarly Articles

The study upon which this article is based was conducted in response to the explosive growth of the use of arbitration in the securities industry as a means of resolving broker/customer disputes. The study was designed to investigate whether the use that is being made of arbitration is efficient and, if inefficiencies were found, what procedures might be employed to screen out inefficient use.

This article was completed prior to the Supreme Court's recent resolution of the Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. v. Byrd case. In light of that decision, it now appears likely that the concerns raised in the article …

Book Review Of Passion: An Essay On Personality , Richard F. Devlin Frsc

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Passion is a cogently structured, compel Jingly argued and seductively enthralling masterpiece which, in years to come, will undoubtedly stand out as an inspirational source for many who seek social transformation. Unger's style, in this essay at least, is lucid and inviting. Substantively, Passion demonstrates not only the depth of his penetrating intellect but also his command of an array of' disciplines. Unger's polymathy is all the more impressive when we remember that ours is an era in which idiosyncratic specialization is the norm.

The Severability Of Arbitrable And Nonarbitrable Securities Claims

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Scherk V. Alberto-Culver Co., Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

Setting The Price In An Close Corporation Buy-Sell Agreement, David Keith Page

Michigan Law Review

The stockholders of a close corporation may consider it important to keep control of the business "within the family." This can be accomplished through a restrictive agreement, typically one which gives the corporation or the remaining stockholders a first option to purchase the shares of any departing stockholder. The original owners may also wish to guarantee themselves a ready purchaser for their stock when they die or leave the business. This second objective can be attained by adopting a restrictive agreement which places an obligation on the departing stockholder to sell to the corporation or to the surviving stockholders, who …

Recent Important Decisions, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Arbitration and Award--By-Laws of Board of Trade--Ousting Courts' Jurisdiction; Bills and Notes--Accommodation Indorsement--Conflict of Laws; Bills and Notes--Material Alteration; Common Carriers--Duty to Notify Passenger of Arrival at His Destination--Must Awaken Sleeping Passenger if His Destination is Known; Constitutional Law--Anti-Trust Laws--Equal Protection of the Laws; Constitutional Law--Insurance--State Statutes Prohibiting Combinations Among Insurance Companies--Do Not Violate Fourteenth Amendment; Constitutional Law--Prosecution by Information due Process of Law; Contracts--Agreement to Employ Only Members of a Certain Union; Contracts--Public Policy--Location of Depots; Corporations--Reduction of Stock--Equitable Relief--Powers of Officers; Corporations--Suit by Stockholders--Refusal of Directors to Sue; Corporations--Suit in Stockholders' Names--Device to Confer Jurisdiction on Federal Courts; …