Michael J. Betts

Michael J. Betts is the principal of Michael J. Betts LLC, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Betts has over forty years of experience handling lawsuits and arbitrations involving securities litigation and financial fraud. These matters have included the representation of clients in cases brought in federal and state courts, as well as numerous FINRA arbitration proceedings.

Mr. Betts’s securities practice involves the representation of individuals and businesses in the pursuit of claims to recover investment-related losses. These claims can arise from a wide variety of wrongful conduct, including securities fraud, misrepresentations, unsuitability, violations of Regulation BI, portfolio mismanagement (e.g., lack of diversification and overconcentration), excessive trading (“churning”), breach of fiduciary duties, sales practice violations related to insurance and annuities, and failures to supervise. Our securities-related practice also involves the representation of securities professionals in a variety of matters, including disputes arising from Form U4/U5 disclosures, FINRA expungement proceedings, Form U5 defamation claims, disputes related to promissory notes (employee forgivable loans, “EFLs”), investigations and regulatory proceedings.

Our practice also includes the representation of individuals and businesses in matters arising from bank fraud and other forms of financial fraud. These matters relate to check fraud (e.g., forgeries and alterations), wire transfer fraud and fraudulent ACH payments, various forms of cybertheft and corporate embezzlements and misappropriations.

In representing clients in securities fraud and financial fraud cases, Mr. Betts draws on his experience of serving in various roles in handling litigation and arbitration cases. Mr. Betts began his career with a large law firm, Reed Smith Shaw & McClay (now Reed Smith LLP), where he became a full litigation partner, focusing on securities fraud cases and other litigation matters involving financial institutions. In other roles over the course of his career, Mr. Betts has managed a “boutique” litigation firm and has served as in-house litigation counsel for one of the country’s largest banks.

Mr. Betts also is an experienced alternative dispute resolution (ADR) neutral, frequently serving as a mediator and arbitrator in securities and investment-related cases as well as business disputes. Mr. Betts is on the approved roster of mediators and ADR neutrals for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He also has been approved by the Court to serve as an E-Discovery Special Master. Mr. Betts also is on the American Arbitration Association’s national arbitrator panel for commercial and consumer cases, and he is certified by FINRA Dispute Resolution to serve as a mediator and arbitrator in connection with FINRA arbitration cases.

Mr. Betts is a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dickinson College in 1977, with a major in economics. Mr. Betts received his law degree in 1980 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review.