Copyright 2011 The Law Offices of Jeffrey S. Salisbury All Rights Reserved.
Crater Lake, Oregon
Investment Dispute Resolution
Mr. Salisbury is deeply experienced in investment cases. He has handled more than 125 of them over approximately the past 30 years as an attorney, an arbitrator and a mediator.
He generally represents investors but has also represented brokers. He further advises investors, brokers and brokerage firms on a wide variety of securities, CFP Board and insurance regulatory matters, though not in connection with securities offerings. He has acted as an NASD arbitrator in deciding seven investment cases, including twice as a panel chairperson. He has also served as an investment case mediator, successfully resolving six of seven cases presented to him.
His prior professional experience as a Certified Financial Planner and as a licensed investment and insurance broker provide valuable insight into addressing investment cases skillfully and confidently. Moreover he taught MBA courses in financial and estate planning, investments, and legal topics for financial advisors for many years at Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California. He has also participated as co-counsel in a number of securities class action cases.
Following are Mr. Salisbury’s thoughts on some common, and important, questions you may have.
*What’s a good lost investment recovery case? If you’re an inexperienced, conservative investor, and your financial advisor recommended high risk investments, you may have a good claim. I generally take recovery cases where the overall losses exceed 25% of your portfolio and are at least $75,000 in size.
*What’s a good broker defense case? If as a financial advisor disclosed all risks of a particular investment strategy and carefully matched your recommendations to the investment objectives and risk tolerance of the client, you probably have a solid defense to an unsuitability or misrepresentation claim.
*How much does it cost? I frequently take investment recovery cases on a percentage contingency fee basis, which means I receive no fee unless you recover money. Initial filing fees are frequently around $1,000. As to broker defense cases, I will charge my normal hourly rate, though many times your firm or errors & omissions insurance carrier will pay much or all of my fees.
*How long does it take? Most disputes are resolved in one year or less time.
*Where are the cases resolved? Cases generally are processed through the binding arbitration program of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or “FINRA”. FINRA has hearing locations across the country, including in Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California.
*What are the chances my case will be settled? Over the years, FINRA arbitrations have settled roughly 60% of the time, which means no hearing was ever necessary.
*Can investment dispute cases be appealed? Generally, the answer is “no”. The parties almost always waive their rights to appeal when they begin doing business together. If one party is not satisfied with the arbitration result, they may file a motion to vacate the award in a court, although such motions are very difficult to win.
*What about my public record as a financial advisor? If you win your arbitration, you may be eligible to have the claim expunged (i.e., erased) from your public record. Expungement is not an easy thing to accomplish, but I have been successful at it in the past.
