Samuel E. Cohen

We obtained summary judgment on behalf of our client, a life insurance agent, who sold a disability policy to the plaintiff. The plaintiff claimed that the policy was misrepresented to him, and that he was led to believe that if he was ever disabled, he could collect full benefits on the sold policy, as well as another supplemental disability policy he owned through another insurance carrier. When the plaintiff became disabled (nearly two decades after purchasing the initial policy), he discovered that the policies would offset each other to avoid over-recovery. He then filed a lawsuit against the insurance agent, as well as the insurance company, and the referral insurance agent was joined as a third-party defendant in the case. The plaintiff’s demand was in excess of policy limits, and the defense successfully argued a lack of causation and damages to substantiate his claims that an offset would not apply in this case.

We obtained a defense verdict in a FINRA arbitration where the claimant donated approximately $600,000 to a donor advised fund in 2012 and took a tax deduction. The claimant alleged that the donor advised fund was mismanaged and lost approximately $140,000 in value in 2022. We defended the fund’s managers in the case based upon the claimant’s lack of standing once the funds were donated. Further, we presented evidence through the respondent’s testimony that the account was managed in accordance with the goals and objectives set for the account. In addition, we presented evidence that the account was overall profitable and performed better than the S&P 500 index during the relevant time period.

Defense award obtained on behalf of our client, a registered investment advisor, in a FINRA arbitration involving alleged mismanagement and lack of transparency concerning a Donor Advised Fund. The arbitration panel denied the claims in their entirety and recommended expungement of the claim from our client's registration records.  

We secured an Appellate Division decision affirming the trial court’s order dismissing a fraud and fraudulent concealment case filed against various attorneys and broker dealers. In its decision, the Appellate Division agreed with the trial court’s orders and opinions dismissing the case based on entire controversy, collateral estoppel and litigation privilege grounds. In this comprehensive decision, the Appellate Division held that the plaintiff’s claims were mirrored claims that had been fully litigated in a prior proceeding, where our clients either represented the litigants in the first case or were directly involved in the first case as defendants.

We won a defense verdict for a financial advisor in a FINRA arbitration over claims of unauthorized trading and breach of fiduciary duty. Defense award in a binding FINRA arbitration in Columbus, Ohio on behalf of a financial advisor. The Claimant alleged unauthorized trading and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with individual stock trades. The Claimant further alleged breach of fiduciary duty in relation to the financial advisor’s recommendation that the account be changed from a commission based to an advisory fee-based account.

A FINRA arbitration panel recommended the expungement of a customer complaint from a financial advisor’s public record.  The complaint involved allegedly unsuitable alternative investments and an overconcentration of alternative investments in the customer’s portfolio.

A FINRA arbitration panel recommended the expungement of a customer complaint from a financial advisor’s public record.  The complaint involved an allegedly unsuitable sale of an equity indexed annuity with a nine-year surrender period.  

A FINRA arbitration panel recommended the expungement of two separate customer complaints from a financial advisor’s public record.  Both complaints involved allegedly unsuitable sales of alternative investments.

A FINRA arbitration panel granted a financial advisor and his supervisor’s motion to dismiss a FINRA arbitration on the basis that the Claimant previously brought multiple claims regarding the same securities related dispute against the broker-dealer, who was not a party to this arbitration.  

A FINRA arbitration panel recommended the expungement of a customer complaint relating to allegedly unsuitable investments in oil and gas investments that declined during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Defense award in a binding FINRA arbitration in Boca Raton, Florida on behalf of a broker-dealer. ​The broker-dealer was sued in arbitration by two retired broker claimants who sought $5 million in past and future benefits, under a retirement program that paid override fees to retired brokers on books of business they had developed decades ago.

Defense verdict after a four-day jury trial in northeastern Pennsylvania on behalf of a registered investment advisor and a securities broker dealer who were sued by their former client for investment losses in alternative investments.

Obtained a dismissal on a directed verdict in a FINRA arbitration in New York. The defense represented a broker-dealer in a dispute with its former customer regarding the unauthorized use of her account information. The claimant was a customer of one of the broker-dealer’s New York branches, where her ex-husband also worked as a broker.