What are the steps of a FINRA arbitration?
- Filing the claim
- Picking a panel of arbitrators
- Discovery/document exchange
- Attempts at settlement
- Final hearing
“A FINRA arbitration really has five parts. First is filing the claim. Putting together what you are claiming, what your damages are, and why it is, effectively, that the broker-dealer for what you’re bringing your claim owes you money. The second aspect is picking your panel of arbitrators. There’s a whole ranking list that comes out for arbitrators in the area for what you’re hearing will be, and firms like ours keep databases on all of those arbitrators as to what decisions they made in the past, how they’ve ruled in various cases, and use that to help us do the rankings.
The third part is discovery. This is where the parties exchange documents. As the claimant, you’ll have to provide things like your tax returns, your account statements, any notes that you took about discussions with your broker/your financial advisor, that kind of thing. The fourth step is attempts at settlement. Typically this takes the form of a mediation where you might have a mediator; somebody who helps the parties negotiate to see if they can work out the issues. And then, finally [fifth step], it’s your final hearing. The final hearing is like the trial. Instead of being in a courtroom with a judge and a jury, it’s typically in a conference room at a hotel or some other location in your city. And then you have a panel of three arbitrators who play the role of both the judge and the fact-finder or what the jury typically does but there will be lawyers there who will ask questions. There will be witnesses that answer/ provide testimony and answer questions on the stand. And there will be documents that are exchanged and evidence that’s entered. And, ultimately, the panel will enter a decision.
Now, most cases (all cases, really) go through the first three phases and then whether they settle in that fourth phase or not, latest statistics are something about 85-90% of cases resolve at settlement, but the other 10-15% go to a final hearing and the arbitrators ultimately decide if the claimant recovers anything at all and how much it is that they recover.”
The Securities Lawyers practice group at Halling & Cayo, S.C. can help. We take cases all over the country, and we only get paid if we win. Contact us to set up a meeting to review your case.