Securities Arbitration Clinic

Catalog description

The students in the Securities Arbitration Clinic, under faculty supervision, work on arbitration cases against brokers, broker-dealers and clearing firms. These arbitration cases are most frequently brought before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) (FINRA is the entity resulting from the merger of the New York Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and, in commodities trading cases, the National Futures Association (NFA). The students interview the clients and perform all of the case-intake functions necessary for evaluation of the Clinic's cases, many of which are referred to the clinic by FINRA, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or the New York Bar Association. Once the Clinic agrees to be retained as counsel, the students then draft and file the pleadings and motions in the arbitration proceedings, negotiate with opposing counsel, and settle, mediate, and/or try cases before the arbitrators in the proceedings to which they are assigned. All students in the Clinic are admitted to practice before the First Department for the State of New York for purposes of their Clinic work and, under faculty supervision, function as attorneys for their clients in the attendant arbitration proceedings. All students are bound by the same ethical rules governing the practice of law for attorneys admitted in the State of New York, and there will be instruction and constant ongoing discussions about maintaining the highest ethics in our practice. In house clinic. Prerequisite(s): LAW 7060 may be taken as a prerequisite or corequisite. Highly Recommended: LAW 7056 .