Arbitrators Award Elderly Couple $125,000 Against Orange County Brokerage Firm and Make a Specific Finding of “Fraud”

Joan L. Grosse and Ronald P. Grosse v. Pacific Coast Financial Securities, Inc., et al.
(NASD Arbitration No. 97-05051)

Following a contentious arbitration, where the Law Offices of Montgomery G. Griffin was successful in convincing the financial advisor to testify on behalf of the firm’s clients (and against his former brokerage firm), the elderly couple (from Orange County, CA) the firm represented was awarded their entire losses of $125,000 by a unanimous arbitration Panel at the NASD (now known as FINRA) in Los Angeles.  The Panel also agreed with the firm’s argument that the Award should contain language specifying that the losses arose by reason of fraud by including a finding of fraud by the brokerage firm in its Award. As a result, the Law Offices of Montgomery G. Griffin’s clients were able to pursue the firm (and its principal) through a bankruptcy proceeding and ultimately collect more than the amount awarded to them (offsetting the attorneys’ fees and costs they had incurred along the way).