Pennsylvania Securities & Investment Fraud Lawyer

Mr. Betts is a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania.  He received his undergraduate degree from Dickinson College and earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was on the Law Review.  During the initial phase of his legal career, Mr. Betts was a commercial litigation attorney with the law firm of Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, now Reed Smith LLP, and after seven years he was made a partner of the firm.  Following his fourteen years at Reed Smith, Mr. Betts has practiced primarily in a small firm “litigation boutique” environment, except for a five-year period during which he served as in-house counsel of a large regional bank, managing litigation.  Over his career, Mr. Betts has handled a wide range of litigation matters, including securities litigation and arbitrations, commercial litigation and business disputes, banking litigation, class actions, employment litigation, trade secrets litigation, franchise litigation, insurance coverage litigation and professional negligence, including legal malpractice and accounting malpractice claims.  In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Betts has extensive experience in providing various alternative dispute resolution services, including in mediations, arbitrations, early neutral evaluations and as serving as a Special Master resolving discovery issues.  In his role as ADR neutral, Mr. Betts draws on his more than forty years of experience in handling litigation and arbitration matters, and he has been involved in the settlement and resolution of hundreds of cases.

Mr. Betts is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and all Courts of Common Pleas throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as other courts.

The Securities Litigation Practice of Michael J. Betts

Mr. Betts represents clients in various types of securities and investment-related matters:

FINRA Securities Arbitrations
Mr. Betts has handled numerous securities and investment-related disputes that are filed with, and administered by, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and FINRA’s Dispute Resolution Services Forum.  FINRA arbitrations can involve either “customer disputes,” which typically are disputes between brokerage firms and their customers, and “industry disputes,” which involve claims between members of the securities industry, such as claims by one brokerage firm against another firm or claims by a firm against one of its registered representatives, or vice-versa.  Most securities-related arbitrations are administered by FINRA, although some arbitrations proceed before other arbitration administrators such as JAMS and the American Arbitration Association.

Securities Litigation – Federal and State Courts

Mr. Betts has extensive experience as a litigator in securities and investment-related cases brought in federal and state courts.  Many investment-related disputes are the subject of arbitration proceedings because of arbitration provisions included in account agreements and other contracts governing the relationship of the parties, but many investment-related disputes proceed in the court system rather than in arbitration.

FINRA/SEC Investigations and Enforcement Proceedings

Mr. Betts represents registered representatives in connection with FINRA enforcement proceedings, including investigations, examinations and disciplinary actions.  This includes representing brokers in responding to FINRA requests for documents and on-the-record interviews (“OTRs”) during which brokers are required to appear and testify under oath.

FINRA Expungement Proceedings

Mr. Betts represents brokers and financial advisors in connection with expungement proceedings before FINRA.  These proceedings arise from negative information reported on uniform registration forms, such as Forms U4 and U5, filed with FINRA’s Central Registration Depository (CRD) system.  When such information is inaccurate, it can cause significant harm, as information filed through the CRD system is made available to the public at large through FINRA’s BrokerCheck tool.

The Business Litigation Practice of Michael J. Betts

Mr. Betts represents clients in various types of commercial litigation matters:

Business Disputes

Mr. Betts has extensive experience in handling a wide range of commercial litigation matters and business disputes, including breach of contract cases, claims arising under the Uniform Commercial Code, shareholder and partnership disputes, trade secret litigation, disputes relating to employee non-compete agreements and business torts, e.g., interference with contractual relations and unfair competition.

Banking Litigation

Through his role as an in-house attorney for a large regional bank and through his private practice, Mr. Betts has substantial experience in handling claims involving banks and other financial institutions, including fiduciary litigation, lender liability claims, account and check fraud cases, and claims arising under Articles 3, 4 and 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code.

Professional Liability Claims

Mr. Betts is experienced in representing clients in professional liability cases, including claims alleging accounting malpractice and legal malpractice.

Trade Secret Litigation

Mr. Betts has substantial experience handling cases involving claims for misappropriation of trade secrets – including proceedings under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) and the Pennsylvania Uniform Trade Secret Act (PUTSA).

Alternative Dispute Resolution Services Provided by Michael J. Betts

Mr. Betts is an experienced alternative dispute resolution neutral, providing services through various forms of ADR:

Mediations

Mr. Betts is an experienced mediator, having assisted litigants and their counsel in the settlement of numerous lawsuits.  He is on the panel of approved mediators for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, as well as for arbitration cases pending with FINRA and the American Arbitration Association.  The mediation “style” employed by Mr. Betts depends on the nature of the case being mediated, but is generally a blend of facilitative and evaluative approaches designed to maximize opportunities for resolution.  During mediations, Mr. Betts regularly uses Decision Tree Analysis as a tool to help the parties and their counsel quantify the risks and expense that would be involved in proceeding to litigation.  Most of his mediations are held in person, but Mr. Betts also is experienced in conducting virtual Zoom mediations and is amenable to doing so to avoid travel expenses or for other reasons.

Arbitrations

Mr. Betts has been selected as an arbitrator for numerous cases and he is on the roster of qualified arbitrators for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).  In addition to arbitrations that are judicially administered or are administered through AAA or FINRA, Mr. Betts is available to conduct private arbitrations, through which parties to a dispute enter into a private arbitration agreement and submit their dispute to Mr. Betts for handling and for the issuance of an award deciding the dispute.

Early Neutral Evaluations

An early neutral evaluation is a form of alternative dispute resolution by which the parties, through counsel, present their cases in a summary fashion to an ADR neutral, who then provides feedback to the parties and their counsel concerning the strengths and weaknesses of their positions.  The neutral’s evaluation is intended to foster productive settlement discussions, either between or among the parties and their counsel directly or with the involvement of the neutral serving in a mediator role.

Special E-Discovery Master

Mr. Betts is on the approved roster of E-Discovery Special Masters for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  Mr. Betts has over forty years of experience in addressing a wide range of discovery issues that arise in commercial litigation matters and he has been appointed by judges of the Court to serve as the E-Discovery Special Master to analyze and issue rulings in cases pending before the Court.

Settlement Value Analysis

Mr. Betts is available to objectively evaluate the settlement value of commercial disputes and securities litigation and arbitrations.  This role is similar to when Mr. Betts serves as a mediator, except that in this type of engagement he is engaged by only one of the parties to provide a confidential settlement value analysis to that party and only to that party.  Mr. Betts’s objective analysis can be helpful in bring a fresh pair of experienced eyes to the case when considering what a reasonable negotiating range may be for settlement discussions.  As with mediations, Mr. Betts often uses Decision Tree Analysis as a tool for presenting his evaluation and assisting parties and their counsel in recognizing the risks and expense of proceeding to trial.