Securities arbitration--once a concept foreign to most attorneys, is now a reality for many individuals whose retirement nest eggs have been decimated within the past year. For better or worse, most individual and institutional investors who do business with firms that are members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (hereafter FINRA) are required to resolve disputes through a FINRA administered arbitration process. For Florida residents, this means that their dispute will be resolved through an arbitration proceeding that will most likely occur in Boca Raton, Tampa, or Lake Mary. Upon recognizing that their dispute will be resolved by arbitrators, and not by a judge and jury, investors and their attorneys often wonder how the arbitral process differs from the judicial process. This article does not address all of the differences between these processes. Rather, it will address one area of difference and suggest a strategy for making the difference work to the investor's advantage.
