Hugh D. Berkson

Articles

• “PIABA Report: Unpaid Arbitration Awards – The Case For An Investor Recovery Pool,” White Paper included in written testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Capital Markets Subcommittee, regarding The Role of Self-Regulatory Organization in U.S. Markets: Examining FINRA and the MSRB, March 2026
• “PIABA Report: Unpaid Arbitration Awards, A Problem the Industry Created – A Problem the Industry Must Fix,” White Paper included in written testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Capital Markets Subcommittee, regarding The Role of Self-Regulatory Organization in U.S. Markets: Examining FINRA and the MSRB, March 2026
• “FINRA Arbitration’s Persistent Unpaid Award Problem,” White Paper included in written testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Capital Markets Subcommittee, regarding The Role of Self-Regulatory Organization in U.S. Markets: Examining FINRA and the MSRB, March 2026
• "Finra Ups Arbitrator Threshold, Investor Advocates Push Back," Financial Advisor IQ, June 2025
• "Is Your Investment Loss Market Volatility or Something Worse?," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, April 2025
• "Schwab, Crypto, Alleged Fraud and An Elderly Couple's $18.5M Loss," Financial Planning, October 2024 
• "TIAA, Morningstar Lawsuit Alleges Costly Annuity Abuses," Financial Planning, July 2024
• "Lawsuit Builds on Recent SEC Case to Curtail FINRA's Police Authority," Financial Planning, July 2024
• "Despite Rule Change, FINRA’s BrokerCheck Tags No ‘Restricted’ Firms?," AdvisorHub, June 2024
• "Despite Rule Change, Finra’s BrokerCheck Tags No ‘Restricted’ Firms," AdvisorHub, March 2024
• "Reg BI Enforcement Heats Up With $2.2M TIAA Fine," Financial Planning, February 2024
• "The Irony of Investment Advisers," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, January 2024
• "LPL's $6M Fine May be 'Cost of Doing Business' or a Reg BI Warning," Financial Planning, January 2024
• "Securities Regulators Remove Safeguards: Heightened Risks for Investors," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, December 2023
• "Judge Lets Finra Proceed with Enforcement Action Against Broker," InvestmentNews, October 2023
• "Finra Seeks to Limit Non-Lawyers From Representing Investors in Arbitration," AdvisorHub, October 2023
• "The SEC Must Take Action to Protect Investors From Forced Arbitration," Financial Planning, October 2023
• "Finra ‘Looks Forward’ to Defending Enforcement Authority in Court," InvestmentNews, August 2023
• "Broker Expungement? Costs and Difficulty Set to Rise This Fall” Financial Planning, August 2023
• "FINRA Adopts Reforms to Make it Tougher for Brokers to Clear Their Records," InvestmentNews, August 2023
• "FINRA's New Hurdles for Broker Expungements to Take Effect in October," AdvisorHub, August 2023
• "The Process for Resolving Advisor-Client Disputes Can Be a Black Box. This Group Wants to Change That," MSN, July 2023
• "Investment Victims Sound Alarm On 'Broken' RIA Arbitration System," Financial Advisor, July 2023
• "'Where is the Justice?' Investors Decry RIA Arbitration Clauses," Citywire RIA, July 2023
• "Lawyers Call for Regulators to Reel in RIAs’ Use of Forced Arbitration," Financial Advisor IQ, July 2023
• "PIABA Will Look to Congress if SEC Doesn't Act on Forced Arbitration," WealthManagement.com, July 2023
• "PIABA Asks SEC to Curtail RIAs’ Use of Mandatory Arbitration, Force Disclosure of Client Claims," AdvisorHub, July 2023
• "Investor Attorneys to Press SEC, Congress on RIA Arbitrations," Financial Planning, July 2023
• "The Process for Resolving Advisor-Client Disputes Can Be a Black Box. Piaba Wants to Change That," Barron's, July 2023
• "SEC Acknowledges JAMS Arbitration Issue, but Offers No Fix," InsuranceNewsNet, July 2023
• "Another Deadline, Another Amendment for FINRA's Remote Work Rule," Financial Planning, July 2023
• "Terry Savage: Fighting Your Financial Adviser Can Be Tough," Orlando Sentinel, July 2023
• "Terry Savage: Fighting Your Adviser," Tribune Content Agency, June 2023
• "SEC Report Highlights Concerns Over Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in Investment Advisor Contracts," ABS Market Research, June 2023
• “SEC Report on RIA Mandatory Arbitration Leaves Many Questions About Potential Investor Harm,” InvestmentNews, June 2023
• "SEC Report Raises Red Flags Around RIA Mandatory Arbitration," City Wire RIA, June 2023
• "SEC Has No Way to Track RIA Arbitration Stats, Unpaid Awards," Think Advisor, June 2023
• "SEC Report on Forced Arbitration Clauses Finds RIA Clients at Disadvantage," WealthManagement.com, June 2023
• "PRESS RELEASE: “Double Whammy For Investors”: PIABA Reacts To New SEC Report Commissioned By Congress On Injustice Of RIA-Forced Arbitration," PIABA, June 2023
• "'No Substitute' for In-Person? Industry Watchers Knock Remote Exams," Financial Advisor IQ, June 2023
• "FINRA Settles Rare Charge with UnionBanc Over Alleged Failure to Produce Documents in Arbitration Case," Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence News, June 2023
• "House Advances Bills to Expand Accredited Investor Definition," Think Advisor, June 2023
• "PIABA Objects, Again, to Finra Remote Flexibility Proposal," AdvisorHub, May 2023
• "If Brokers Work From Home, Should Investors Know the Address?," Financial Planning, May 2023
• "Advisors Weigh Potential of 'Accredited Investor' Law to Open Access to Private Markets," Financial Planning, May 2023
• "House Committee Passes Bills Aimed at Expanding ‘Accredited Investor’ Pool," Financial Advisor IQ, April 2023
• "LPL Pays Almost $500K to Settle 'Clearly Erroneous' Complaints," Financial Planning, February 2023
• "Finra Proposes to Illuminate Arbitrator Selection Process," InvestmentNews, January 2023
• "Finra Tweaks Remote Inspection Proposal to Pacify Critics," AdvisorHub, December 2022
• "Ex-LPL Financial Advisor Charged with 23 Felonies in Elder Fraud Case," Financial Planning, December 2022
• "Advisor Group Firms to Pay GPB Investors Restitution for 7% Commissions," Financial Planning, December 2022
• "FINRA, State Regulators Battle Over Remote Office Proposal," AdvisorHub, November 2022
• "Investor Advocate Slams FINRA’s Proposed Rule on Residential Offices," Financial Advisor IQ, November 2022
• "PIABA: FINRA Rules on Residential Offices 'Fundamentally Flawed'," WealthManagement.com, November 2022
• "New PIABA President Looks Towards Investors’ Volatility Concerns," WealthManagement.com, November 2022
• "Putting on the REITs: Private Real-Estate Funds with Outsize Gains Attract Scrutiny," Financial Planning, November 2022
• "The Market, Brokers, and Advisors, Oh My," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, August 2022
• "PIABA: Ga. Broker's Conduct is "Road Map" For Avoiding Arb Awards," WealthManagement.com, August 2022
• "The Market Is Down – The Securities Practice Is Busy, Right?," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, July 2022
• "FINRA Arbitration's Persistent Unpaid Award Problem," PIABA Report, September 2021
• "Robinhood Service Outages Create Headaches - But There's a Cure," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, July 2021
• "Robinhood May Be Liable If You Lose Money Based On Its Recommendations," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, February 2021
• "Robinhood Restricts Purchases of GameStop, AMC, Other Securities - Do I Have a Claim?," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, January 2021
• "My Broker Stole My Stock!," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, December 2020
• "When is "Stay the Course" Code for "Please Don't Sue Me?," McCarthy Lebit's The More Report, March 2020
• "Unpaid Arbitration Awards: The Case For An Investor Recovery Pool," PIABA Report, March 2018
• "Automobile Loan Backed Securities: History On the Verge Of Repeating Itself," Stockmarketloss Blog, August 2017
• "Investors May Have Recovery Options When Investments Go Wrong," Smart Business Magazine, February 2017
• "BrokerCheck – the Inequality of Investor Access to Information Remains Unabated – An Update to PIABA’s March 2014 Report,” PIABA Report, October 2016
• “Unpaid Arbitration Awards: A Problem the Industry Created – A Problem the Industry Must Fix,” PIABA Report, February 2016

Presentations

• "Receivership Isn't a Dirty Word," Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) Annual Meeting, Moderator, 2025
• "What is a Retainer?" Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) Annual Meeting, Panelist, 2025
• “Staying Ahead of the Curve: Hot Topics and Future Trends,” Practising Law Institute (PLI), Annual Securities Arbitration Program, Panelist, 2025
• “The Best Use of Experts in the FINRA Forum,” Practising Law Institute (PLI), Annual Securities Arbitration Program, Panelist, 2025
• “Reg BI – Have Arbitrations Changed in the Wake of the New Standard of Care,” Practising Law Institute (PLI), Annual Securities Arbitration Program, Panelist, 2024
• “Staying Ahead of the Curve: Hot Topics and Future Trends,” Practising Law Institute (PLI), Annual Securities Arbitration Program, Panelist, 2023
• "Staying Ahead of the Curve: Hot Topics and Future Trends," Practising Law Institute (PLI), Annual Securities Arbitration Program, Panelist, 2016
• PIABA National Meetings and Seminars, Panelist and Moderator 
• PLI Securities Arbitration Program, Panelist
• Ohio Securities Conference, Panelist

Presentations

“Thank you for your prompt return call and the honest and fair consultation you provided. Although my case was not a good fit, your advice did help to set expectations and provide a more appropriate direction for me.”

“On the recommendation of my attorney, I had the privilege of consulting with Hugh Berkson regarding issues with my investment advisor in Cleveland. I cannot say enough good things about Mr. Berkson. He is extremely knowledgeable, experienced, and practical. He took the time to listen carefully and evaluate my situation, conducting a complete and thorough review of my financial documents. What impressed me most was his integrity. After his evaluation, he could have recommended that I work with both him and a local attorney in my state. Instead, he advised me to consult an attorney in my home state to avoid unnecessary expenses, explaining that since he wasn't familiar with the local landscape, hiring him alongside local counsel wouldn't add value. This type of professionalism is refreshing, particularly in the legal profession. I've seen cases where attorneys partner with specialists simply to get a cut of the action, even when they add no real value. Hugh Berkson is clearly different—he prioritized my best interests over his own financial gain. Hugh is a credit to the profession, and I highly recommend him.”