McCarthy, Lebit, Crystal & Liffman Co., LPA is pleased to announce that today, Principal Hugh Berkson begins his appointment as President of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA). Through its international association of securities attorneys across 44 states, Puerto Rico, and Japan, PIABA works to promote the interests of the public investor in securities and commodities arbitration through advocacy, education, and networking.
Mr. Berkson has served on the Board of Directors of PIABA for over a decade and has served past terms as President and Executive Vice President. He regularly participates as both a moderator and panelist at PIABA’s national meetings and seminars.
“I am very excited to be serving PIABA once again as President,” said Berkson. “PIABA plays an important role for the American people by protecting investors in matters involving securities fraud, bad actor financial advisory firms, and other forms of financial misconduct. Our organization brings together talented and compassionate attorneys with a passion for the sophisticated legal work and technical analysis required in these types of cases.” In his own practice, Mr. Berkson provides expert counsel in securities and commodities arbitration and litigation cases, primarily representing injured investors who have lost money in the stock market or thanks to fraudulent conduct of financial advisors.
Mr. Berkson will serve as a year-long term and looks forward to providing leadership during the sustained market volatility that has characterized the last year. He intends to focus his efforts on fighting unpaid arbitration awards – a project he started in 2015. “I’m not going out on a limb when I say that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s most recent statistics showing that 37% of all customer-won arbitrations go unpaid is too high and it’s time to take meaningful steps to resolve the problem,” Berkson said. He will also address the fundamental unfairness in registered investment advisor mandatory arbitration clauses. Berkson says, “Investment Advisors, who are fiduciaries and owe their clients the highest duty under the law, too often shield themselves by requiring their clients to pay extraordinary sums and travel great distances just to have their claims heard. They do that so that their clients won’t be able to afford to enforce their rights.” Mr. Berkson looks forward to guiding PIABA as it continues its mission of promoting investor rights and preventing misconduct by those who sell investments and investment advice to the public.
In addition to his work for PIABA, Mr. Berkson has been a panelist at the annual nationally simulcasted PLI Securities Arbitration Program in New York City, as well as the Ohio Securities Conference. He is frequently consulted for his expertise on a wide variety of investment issues, and has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Investment News, On Wall Street, Financial Planning, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and other media outlets. He has also served as Adjunct Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law, where he taught trial practice.