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The ongoing Goldman Sachs Group Class Action is the gift that keeps on giving -- at least that's how it would appear to any party's lawyer on a billable hour. For the rest of us, it's like a beast that will not die and continues to devour all in its path. Today, we seem to have come to an end that is not really an end but not quite a beginning but something caught in between. Regardless of my obvious bias, here's where things stand as of today.
The allegations in Matthew McLeod's lawsuit against his former employer BTIG are lurid, and whether damages should be awarded will be determined by a trier of fact -- but will that trier be a FINRA arbitration panel or a court? McLeod sued in state court, but BTIG argued that the proper forum for the dispute was before a FINRA arbitration panel. BTIG lost its motion to compel arbitration, and, as such, McLeod's lawsuit moves forward in the California court system.
When the best that you can say about a FINRA Arbitration Award is that you don't know where to begin, that's not a good thing. Sadly, when it comes to a recent public customer's arbitration against a no-show Respondent, I don't know where to begin.