PIABA’s third report in over five years says the problem of unpaid FINRA awards is getting worse, not better. The Report, FINRA Arbitration’s Persistent Unpaid Award Problem, was announced in a September 29 Press Release, PIABA – 30% of 2020 FINRA Arbitration Awards Went Unpaid, and via a 24-minute Zoom event. The headlines? “The percentage of unpaid customer awards in FINRA arbitration…
A split Ninth Circuit has finally ruled on the validity of AB-51, which would restrict predispute arbitration clauses (“PDAA”) in employment relationships. The mandatory PDAA preclusions in the new law withstand Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) preemption scrutiny, but the criminal and civil penalties for mandatory PDAA use do not. We sometimes wonder whether courts read…
FINRA Dispute Resolution Services (“DRS”) on September 17 announced an updated COVID-19 vaccination policy. Effective October 4, all in-person participants must be fully vaccinated to attend hearings. There will be a “proof of negative PCR test” exception through November 19, except in Florida – where the exemption will continue indefinitely. Here is the policy in its entirety (footnotes are…
It’s been a while since FINRA temporarily withdrew its expungement rule change proposal. We thought it was time to check in. Spoiler alert: not much going on as far as we can see, but looks may be deceiving. We reported in SAA 2021-22 (Jun. 3) that, on the last day for SEC review of FINRA’s latest proposal…
Just a month out from oral argument, Servotronics has notified the Court that it is dismissing its Certiorari Petition. That leaves Badgerow v. Walters, No. 20-1143, which has been set for oral argument on November 2, as the only arbitration-centric case on the Court’s hearing docket. One of the late Gilda Radner’s many characters was Emily Litella, who would give misguided…