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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 of…

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…

In Dittman v. UPMC, No. 43 WAP 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an opinion that addressed important issues concerning the scope of an employer’s duty to use reasonable care to safeguard its employees’ sensitive personal information. The Court also addressed and clarified the scope of the economic loss doctrine, as applied to negligence claims…

The federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) was enacted by Congress in May 2016 to provide, for the first time, a federal statutory claim for misappropriation of trade secrets. 18 U.S.C. §§ 1831, et seq. Until the DTSA became effective, claims of trade secret misappropriation were litigated exclusively in state courts under state trade secret…

A panel of the Superior Court recently issued a decision that could significantly expand the reach of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, ruling for the first time that the “catchall” provision of the statute imposes strict liability. Gregg v. Ameriprise Financial, Inc., No. 1504 WDA 2017 (Pa. Super. Sept. 12, 2018). The…

On August 31, 2018, the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a decision that likely will be a significant precedent in determining whether legal malpractice claims are barred by the statutes of limitation. In Seidner v. Howard Finkelman, Nos. 716 EDA 2017 and 808 EDA 2017, the Panel (President Judge Gantman and Judges Shogan and Platt) ruled that…

A panel of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently rejected an attempt by J.P. Morgan Securities LLC to enforce a forum selection clause, holding that J.P. Morgan Securities was required to submit to FINRA arbitration under FINRA Rule 12200. Reading Health System v. Bear Stearns & Co. n/k/a J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, No.…

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: A red-lined version of the revised ADR Policies and Procedures can…

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: A red-lined version of the revised ADR Policies and…