Areas of Practice

Securities Arbitration & Litigation

 

Schwartz Legal represents investors seeking to recover investment losses from brokerage firms and financial advisors. Schwartz Legal represents investors across the United States in FINRA arbitrations, AAA arbitrations, JAMS arbitrations, and in both state and federal courts.

Schwartz Legal knows that investors work hard to save for their retirement and other personal financial goals. Unfortunately, however, sometimes investors lose their investment assets as a result of being taken advantage of by a dishonest brokerage firm or financial advisor. While investors should be able to rely upon their advisors, sadly, advisors sometimes fail to follow industry standards and relevant laws and, as a result, breach the duties they owe to their clients. This includes broker misconduct like recommending unsuitable investments, lack of proper investment diversification, excessive margin use, excessive trading, selling away, unauthorized trading, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and negligence, among other acts of misbehavior. Likewise, brokerage firms themselves are typically responsible not only for their brokers’ misconduct, but for their own misbehavior, including negligent supervision.

If you believe you were taken advantage of by your financial advisor, Schwartz Legal may be able to help you recover some or all of your lost assets. Schwartz Legal represents all kinds of investors, including individuals, retirees, trusts, pension plans, partnerships, family partnerships, family offices, and ultra-high net worth individuals. Schwartz Legal handles cases involving all kinds of investments, including stocks, bonds, mutual funds, closed-ends funds, exchange-traded funds, unit investment trusts, structured products, private placements, and hedge funds.

For securities arbitration and litigation cases, Schwartz Legal represents investors on a contingency fee basis. In other words, as a client of the firm, you will not pay a fee unless money is recovered on your behalf. Clients are responsible for costs. The contingency fee is calculated before deducting costs incurred in the case.

FINRA CRD Expungement

 

Schwartz Legal knows that not every customer complaint is valid. Nevertheless, due to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) broad reporting requirements, all complaints - meritorious and meritless alike - appear on a registered representative’s Central Registration Depository (CRD) records and the publicly available BrokerCheck website. Complaints that are not accurate but nevertheless appear on a registered representative’s record, however, do not help the investing public at large and only serve to tarnish the representative’s reputation and ability to do business. This is true regardless of whether the complaint was settled, withdrawn, or denied.

Schwartz Legal has developed a niche practice in this area and is intimately familiar with the expungement process, the grounds for expungement, and how to effectively navigate a request for expungement in a cost-efficient way. Schwartz Legal knows your reputation is important, and is here to try and help you restore it.

Business & Commercial Litigation

 

Business disputes arise everyday and Schwartz Legal has experience representing large companies, small businesses, and individuals in these disputes. With an eye towards reaching efficient and cost-effective solutions, sometimes disputes may be resolved with informal negotiations and without having to initiate litigation in court. When this is not possible, however, Schwartz Legal’s familiarity litigating business and commercial disputes in both state and federal courts throughout Florida allows the firm to zealously represent clients regardless of whether they are the plaintiff or the defendant.

Schwartz Legal represents clients in high-stakes, prominent litigation notwithstanding complexity or size. Representative matters that Schwartz Legal handles include:

  • Breach of contract

  • Business collections

  • Business torts

  • Contract interpretation in commercial transactions

  • Corporate, shareholder, and partnership disputes

  • Disputes under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)

  • Fiduciary Duties

  • Fraud

  • Garnishments

  • Injunctions

  • Insurance coverage

  • Interpleaders

  • Negligence

  • Product liability

  • Subpoenas

  • Unfair and deceptive trade practices