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Stephen Steinlight has nearly two decades of experience as a trial and appellate litigator in federal and state courts and arbitrations in an expansive range of complex business, commercial, corporate, real estate, banking, financial services, consumer finance, securities industry/broker-dealer, white-collar/regulatory, ERISA, and labor and employment matters.

2021 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigate an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Pepper is uniquely positioned to help its clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the curve.

In this report, we share developments on auto finance, background screening, bankruptcy, consumer class actions, consumer

The Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has made its arbitration statistics for the year 2021, through May 31, available on its website. Overall, FINRA experienced an intriguing 19% decline in the number of overall arbitrations commenced through May 31, 2021 versus May 31, 2020. In particular, customer/investor claims declined a modest 2%, while intra-industry arbitrations,

While Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rules do not require member firms and customers to enter into arbitration agreements or otherwise preclude parties from litigating disputes through the state and federal court systems, FINRA issued and published Regulatory Notice 21-16 (the “Notice”) on April 21, 2021 to emphasize the applicable FINRA Rules when member firms

On April 14, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California finding that a FINRA registered investment banker’s statutory employment discrimination and civil rights claims were not subject to arbitration. In reversing, the Ninth Circuit held that the express

On April 16, 2021, a bill was introduced in the Senate and House that would restrict securities industry broker-dealers and other FINRA registered firms from imposing mandatory arbitration for customer disputes or contractually limiting a customer’s ability to bring suit on a class or consolidated basis.

Named the “Investor Choice Act” (the “Bill”), the Bill

Last March we reported that, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. (FINRA) administratively postponed in-person arbitration and mediation proceedings, and held such proceedings remotely via telephone or Zoom.

However, given recent developments in the country’s reopening from the pandemic, FINRA announced that it will re-open 62 of its

In Jefferies LLC v Gegenheimer, the Second Circuit reminded prospective FINRA arbitration litigants of the high burden in court to vacate an unsatisfactory arbitration award issued by a panel of arbitrators.

In this matter, the petitioner was a FINRA-member investment bank and respondent was an individually licensed investment banker. The dispute arose out of

2020 was a transformative year for the consumer financial services world. As we navigate an unprecedented volume of industry regulation, Troutman Pepper is uniquely positioned to help its clients find successful resolutions and stay ahead of the compliance curve.

In this report, we share developments in 2020 on consumer class actions, background screening, bankruptcy,

In a putative class action, Santoro v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 2020 WL 6586630, 19-CV-9782 (CS) (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 9, 2020), District Court Judge Cathy Seibel dismissed the plaintiff’s complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a violation of New York General Business Law (“GBL”) § 399-zzz, which is enforceable through GBL

New York Attorney General Letitia James and Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on November 4, 2020, that the State will continue the suspension of its debt collection efforts of medical and student debt through the remainder of the calendar year. The suspension, which was originally instituted during March 2020 as part of the state’s response to