"Twenty Years After Shearson/American Express v. McMahon:
Assessing Investors' Remedies"

Date: March 30, 2007
Location: University of Cincinnati College of Law, Room 118

Meet the Conference Participants

8:00-8:45 a.m. - Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:45-9:00 a.m. - Welcome by Louis D. Bilionis, Dean & Nippert Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law

9:00 -10:30 a.m. - Panel 1:  Consumer Arbitration: The Fundamental Issue of Fairness
Consumer arbitration, including securities arbitration, has its supporters and detractors in the debate over the fairness of the process. Four recognized scholars present their views on this topic.

Moderator:  Jill Gross, Pace University School of law
Presenter:  Jeffrey Stempel, UNLV, Developing Fairness Protocols for the Era of Mass Arbitration
Presenter:  Edward J. Brunet, Lewis and Clark School of Law, Substantive Fairness in Securities Arbitration
Commentator:  Stephen J. Ware, Kansas School of Law
Commentator:  Jill Gross, Pace University School of Law

10:45 a.m. -12:15 p.m. - Panel 2: Investors' Remedies: Arbitration and Litigation
While investor-broker disputes go to arbitration, other investors may have judicial remedies.  This panel explores how investors are faring in the courts.  Professor Bullard explores remedies against investment fund managers.  Professor O'Hare analyzes the state of investors' remedies after Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith v. Dabit (U.S. 2006).

Moderator: Barbara Black, University of Cincinnati College of Law
Presenter: Mercer E. Bullard, University of Mississippi School of Law, Mutual Fund Shareholder Claims: All Bark, No Bite
Presenter: Jennifer A. O'Hare, Villanova University School of Law, The Retail Investor and the Anti-Fraud Provisions of the Federal Securities Law
Commentator:  Barbara Black, University of Cinicnnati College of Law

12:15-12:45 p.m. - Lunch at the University of Cincinnati Faculty Club

12:15-1:45 p.m. - Roundtable:  The Current State of Securities Arbitration
The securities arbitration process has changed dramatically in 20 years and continues to do so. In recent months, the SEC approved NASD Regulation?s rewrite of its Code of Customer Arbitration to make it more user-friendly, and other revisions may be forthcoming. In addition, the expected merger of the regulatory arms of NASD and NYSE means that there will be one SRO arbitration forum. The panelists discuss the implications of these and other developments and answer questions from the audience.  

Catherine McGuire, Associate Director and Chief Counsel, Division of Market Regulation, SEC
Linda D. Fienberg, President, NASD Dispute Resolution
Joseph Borg, Alabama Securities Commissioner and President, North American Securities Administrators Association  (or his representative)
Philip M. Aidikoff, Esq., Aidikoff, Uhl & Bakhtiari, Beverly Hills, CA
Kenneth E. Meister, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Prudential Equity Group, LLC

3:45-4:00 p.m. - Closing Remarks by Barbara Black , University of Cincinnati College of Law

The annual Corporate Law Symposium attracts scholars and practitioners from around the country to exchange ideas about critical topics of today. Targeted to practitioners and academics, this successful event is an avenue where critical thought is expressed. Papers presented at each Symposium are published in a special edition of the University of Cincinnati Law Review.

For more information contact Barbara Black.

The Corporate Law Symposium is generously sponsored by the law firm of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.