March 11, 2011
Lisa Mitchum, Certified PLS, a legal assistant with the firm, was recently installed as a Regional Director of NALS – the association for legal professionals (http://www.nals.org) – for a second term during NALS’ Professional Development and Education Conference held in Tulsa, Oklahoma, March 11-13, 2011. The 60th Annual NALS Education Conference & National Forum will be held October 13-16, 2011, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Region 4 covers Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. Continue reading →
March 1, 2011
Brian Smiley was appointed as one of three public members of the Securities Industry Conference on Arbitration (SICA). SICA was established in 1977 with the support of the SEC to help protect the rights of public investors in securities arbitration. SICA provides a forum at which securities arbitration forums, state regulators, the SEC, representatives of investors, and the securities industry confer about improvements to the arbitration process.
February 1, 2011
John C. Porter, Jr. and Brian Smiley have been named by Georgia Super Lawyers magazine as two of the top attorneys in Georgia for 2011. Only 5% of the lawyers in the state are named by Super Lawyers.
The selections for this esteemed list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters Legal division based in Eagan, MN. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers undertakes a rigorous multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check.
October 1, 2010
Brian Smiley was reelected to the Board of Directors of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association. This was for his third two-year term. During the organization’s annual meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach Florida, Brian conducted a members only session on brokerage firm defense tactics.
October 1, 2009
Brian Smiley completed his term as president of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA). With over 450 members nationally, PIABA is the only bar association dedicated to advocacy on behalf of investors who bring claims in arbitration. During Mr. Smiley’s term, PIABA initiated a number of significant reform measures to the arbitration process.
August 1, 2009
Brian Smiley appeared on the Practicing Law Institute’s program “Securities Arbitration in the Market Meltdown Era” held on August 12, 2009. He was a speaker on two panel discussions concerning arbitration practices.
December 1, 2007
Brian Smiley completed five years of service as a public member of the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee. The 13 members of the NAMC are appointed by FINRA to advise the Board of Directors of FINRA in the drafting of arbitration rules and the recruitment, training, and evaluation of arbitrators. The members of the NAMC are appointed by FINRA’s directors to serve. During his tenure on the NAMC, Brian was chairman of the Rules and Procedures Subcommittee.
August 8, 2007
Brian Smiley was on the faculty of the Practicing Law Institute’s Securities Arbitration 2007 program “Arbitrators and Mediators—Winning Their Hearts and Minds” held on August 8, 2007 in New York City. His paper, “Breaking the Nest Egg: Using Traditional Theories to Handle New Cases” appears in the PLI course book.
October 13, 2006
Brian Smiley spoke before the prestigious Annual Securities Litigation & Regulatory Practice seminar conducted by the ICLE. His topic was, “Arbitration Against Stockbrokers: The Machinist and the Millionaire.” His paper involved claims against investment professionals for failing to adequately diversify client portfolios.
May 1, 2006
Brian Smiley spoke before a joint training seminar conducted by state securities (NASAA) and insurance regulators (NAIC). Mr. Smiley’s topics included “Insurance and Securities Anticipated Scams” and “What Every Regulator Needs to Know About NASD Arbitration.”
