Securities Law Clinic II

Catalog description

The course will focus on fundamental investigatory and advocacy skills applicable to representation of public investors in disputes subject to arbitration at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (f/k/a National Association of Securities Dealers), with particular attention to the elderly and to small investors. Substantive legal topics will include the scope and nature of binding arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act and New York law, and the legal and regulatory remedies available to defrauded investors. Coursework will include training in skills such as interviewing potential clients, evaluating potential claims, preparing pleadings, conducting discovery, representing clients at hearings and negotiating settlements. Class work will include presentations by nationally-recognized experts on topics applicable to evaluation of securities accounts, trading, and products. Students will have the opportunity under faculty supervision to represent investors, to provide public education to community groups as to investment frauds, to draft position statements to regulatory authorities, and/or to participate in preparing amicus briefs, in support of public investors.