FAQs

The cost of an investment / securities fraud arbitration will depend on where it is filed.

If your claim is against an advisor who is registered with a FINRA brokerage firm, the claim most likely will have to be filed in FINRA Arbitration. The filing fees for a FINRA arbitration will depend on how much your claimed damages / losses are. This fee can be as low as $50 for a $1,000 claim, or as high as $2,300 for a claim over five million dollars. FINRA arbitrators then also charge fees for each hearing session in the matter. These fees also will depend on the filing amount, but they typically are $450 per session for one arbitrator, or over $1,000 a session for a panel of three arbitrators.

If you are filing a claim for damages against a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), the forum for resolution of your dispute may depend on your agreement with the advisor. Many RIAs require AAA arbitration, where one can attempt to file the arbitration under the Consumer Rules which only requires a $225 filing fee with the business responsible for all additional fees. If the matter ends up in AAA Commercial Arbitration, the fees can be quite expensive as the parties are paying the arbitrators at a high hourly rate.

Other arbitration forums, such as JAMS, can also result in high fees to a customer. If one is not required to file an arbitration and can instead file in court, the filing fees will typically be less than $500, but one may be required to pay significant fees for court reporters and depositions.

In any forum, it is often best to hire a securities expert witness. Expert witness fees can vary, but they often will be thousands of dollars.

Although our clients are responsible for related costs of their arbitration, we at Greco & Greco understand that many of our clients have lost a large part of their savings due to fraud, and we work with each client to advance costs as needed.

The answer to this question will depend on if your advisor is a FINRA registered advisor or if they are a registered investment advisor (RIA) representative registered with the SEC or states.

FINRA registered advisors work for FINRA Broker-Dealer brokerage firms, and their new account agreements will always require that any disputes ( securities fraud, churning, unauthorized trading, unsuitable recommendations, etc.) must be resolved in FINRA arbitration.

RIAs have more discretion regarding any dispute resolution provisions in their new account contracts with customers. They often require arbitration, but they may reference forums other than FINRA, such as AAA or JAMS. If one does not have a signed arbitration agreement with the advisory firm, one may file the claim in court.

Arbitration is an alternative means of resolving disputes versus going to court. If one opened an investment account with a FINRA brokerage firm or RIA, their agreements will often require that disputes be resolved in arbitration rather than court.

In arbitration, discovery (the exchange of documents and information) will often be more limited than in court, and depositions are typically not allowed.

Rather than a trial with a jury and/or judge, the dispute will ultimately be decided in arbitration by an appointed arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. Arbitrations are supposed to be faster and cheaper than going to court, but that is not always the case. The right to appeal an adverse arbitration award is much more limited than in court.

Customers may represent themselves in arbitration, but it is not advisable. Brokerage firms will almost always have their own experienced lawyers, and customers will be better off being represented by an experienced securities fraud arbitration lawyer. W. Scott Greco has twenty-five years of experience arbitrating disputes between customers and their securities firms.

When a securities fraud customer hires a lawyer on a contingency fee, the lawyer does not charge the customer for time spent on the case, and does not require the payment of a fee retainer. The lawyer only charges as their attorneys fee a percentage of the amount recovered for the client, through settlement or payment of an award/judgment. If no money is recovered for the client in the case, then the attorney is not paid a fee.

Greco & Greco provides a free consultation with one of our attorneys to determine if your case is one for which we can represent you. If the initial review is promising, we will further investigate the case at no charge. This will typically include review of relevant documents, and several meetings to discuss the facts of the case by phone, Zoom, or in person. After our investigation, if we think the case is worth pursuing, we will prepare and discuss a Retainer Agreement to hire our firm for your claim, typically on a contingency fee.

Most FINRA arbitrations are resolved through a settlement or arbitration award in approximately a year, or sometimes longer. For elderly or seriously ill customers, FINRA arbitration provides for an expedited procedure which speeds up the various time periods in arbitration with the goal of expediting the final resolution to shorter than a year.

The Virginia Securities Fraud Lawyers of Greco & Greco represent customers from across the country in arbitrations and court cases against their financial advisors. Please contact Scott Greco for a free attorney consultation about your case.