The Public Investors Advocate Bar Association

The Public Investors Advocate Bar Association is a voluntary bar association whose membership includes attorneys who focus their legal practice on representing and advocating for public investors in legal disputes against the finance industry.

That can include claims against the creators or issuers of investments, like mutual fund companies, hedge funds, and various non-public investment companies. It also includes claims against financial advisors, which can include investment advisors, broker/dealers, or insurance salesmen.

The association specifically limits its membership to prohibit lawyers from joining if they devote a large percentage of their practice to claims against public investors (more than 20%). This is done so that the core mission of the organization isn’t conflicted against its own members, which is to “advocate for equal access to justice for investors in all forums.

PIABA works to promote fairness in the rules governing dispute resolution for investor claims against securities and commodities brokerage firms, registered investment advisory firms, and their associated representatives.

The firm also works toward creating, improving, and enforcing statutes, rules, regulations, case law, and policies designed to promote investor rights and to prevent misconduct by those who sell investments to the public.

PIABA works toward this mission in a variety of ways. It publishes a bar journal of legal articles written primarily by lawyers and expert witnesses related to legal issues facing public investors. These journals are published (currently) three times per year and are widely distributed, including to state and federal regulators.

The association regularly submits amicus briefs. An amicus curiae brief, which means a brief by a “friend of the court,” is a brief filed by people not directly involved in a particular legal dispute. In essence, they don’t have a personal stake in the outcome either way.

Instead, they are appearing in front of a court to argue from a purely policy perspective to argue about how the decision being considered by the judge would impact a broader group of people or other policy concerns. The Public Investors Advocate Bar Association files these briefs in court cases where it believes a decision rendered by a court would have adverse consequences to public investors as a whole.

PIABA also lobbies to improve the laws and regulations to protect investors. The membership and particularly the leadership, including the president and board of directors, regularly meet and confer with state and federal regulators to discuss issues facing public investors. They also discuss ways the law should be changed and improved to help prevent abuse and mistreatment of investors.