ADR

On February 18, 2020, following a three-day hearing in Pittsburgh, a FINRA arbitration panel issued an award in favor of a client represented by Michael J. Betts LLC, ordering a brokerage firm and a financial advisor to pay damages in the amount of $500,000. The claims arose from numerous unauthorized covered call trades made in […]

Classwide arbitration is fundamentally different from individual arbitration, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently in the case of Lamps Plus, Inc., et al, v. Varela. The majority in the 5-4 decision held that classwide arbitration lacks many of the advantages of individual arbitration and undermines the central benefits of the process. Arbitration is a type […]

Two parties may have a dispute, but that does not mean that they are headed to court. Often used as an alternative to litigation, mediation is one of the most common and efficient forms of alternative dispute resolution. Many like it because it avoids the expense, stress and time involved in going to court. The […]

By Order dated November 28, 2018, Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti approved amendments to the Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Policies and Procedures.  The amendments, which become effective on January 2, 2019, relate to mediations and early neutral evaluations (ENEs) conducted pursuant to the Court’s ADR program. The amendments are subtle but noteworthy.  The first set […]

By Order dated February 16, 2018, supplemented by Order dated March 14, 2018, Chief Judge Joy Flowers Conti of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania approved revisions to the Court’s ADR Policies and Procedures, effective immediately. The significant substantive changes are: Good Faith Participation. New Section 2.8 of the ADR […]