Shustak and Partners Newsletter – July 2014
Recent Recognitions of Our Firm
Three of Our Attorneys Named “Best of the Bar” 2014
We are pleased to announce that three of our attorneys received the 2014 San Diego Business Journal “Best of the Bar” Award in several categories: Erwin Shustak – Securities Litigation and Business Litigation; Jonah Toleno – Securities Law and Business Litigation; and George Miller – Securities Arbitration and Business Litigation. From more than 200 attorneys in San Diego, Erwin, Jonah and George were chosen as the most outstanding in San Diego after over 1,000 votes were cast from 146 firms throughout the area. Shustak & Partners congratulates Erwin, Jonah and George, and all of the 2014 “Best of the Bar” honorees.
Jonah A. Toleno, Esq. Named Top Attorney by SDDT for 2014
We also are pleased to announce that Jonah Toleno has been named a San Diego Daily Transcript “Top Attorney” in Corporate Litigation for 2014. “Top Attorneys” pays tribute to San Diego County’s legal cream of the crop in several pre-selected categories. It is the culmination of a lengthy peer voting process during which San Diego County lawyers were asked who among their peers were worthy of recognition. Over 900 nominations were submitted, and the top 25 nominees in each category were advanced to the semifinal round. The semifinalists were asked to cast their votes for 10 winners in their categories. Only five women, including Jonah, advanced to the Corporate Litigation semifinalist round, and she was selected as one of the top 10 finalists based on the number of peer votes she received. We congratulate Jonah and all of the Daily Transcript Top Attorney awardees.
$5 Million Arbitration Award We Obtained Against Morgan Stanley for Two Broker Clients Reinstated and Confirmed on Appeal
by Erwin. J. Shustak, Esq.
Although it took almost two years, we are pleased to announce that a $5 million arbitration award we obtained for two firm clients has been confirmed on appeal. On June 30th the California Court of Appeal reversed a lower court and reinstated and confirmed a $5 million arbitration award that a San Diego-based FINRA panel assessed against Morgan Stanley in favor of our clients, two brokers whom Morgan Stanley had recruited from UBS in 2008. In reversing the trial court and confirming the arbitration award, the Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s order which had vacated the award on the grounds that one of the three arbitrators, industry panelist Barry Kersh, failed to make required disclosures when he was selected as one of the three panelists to hear the case.
Dennis Stubblefield Joins
Our Firm – Our Newest Partner
We welcome our new partner, Dennis Stubblefield, to the firm. Dennis, who will head the firm’s Orange County office in Irvine, served nearly seven years with the SEC’s Enforcement Division. His practice will continue to emphasize defense of SEC and FINRA investigations and enforcement actions, broker-dealer and investment adviser compliance and risk management, internal investigations, and representation of broker-dealers and financial services firms and individuals in litigation and arbitration matters.
Dennis brings to the Firm his broad experience on corporate legal and compliance management teams, inside both a leading wirehouse and several independent contractor broker-dealers, including San Diego-area firm Spelman & Co., Inc. He previously was General Counsel of three former AIG/SunAmerica broker-dealers, including Spelman, serving as Chief Compliance Officer of two of these firms.
Eating “Healthy” – What do ‘Organic,’ ‘GMO-free,’ ‘Vegan,’ and ‘Gluten-Free’ really mean, and who makes the rules?
by John H. Barkley, Esq.
Americans are becoming more conscious of where their food comes from each passing day. Just recently, in Prop 37, California voters considered requiring labels on food that contained genetically engineered organisms.
Today Organic, GMO-free, Gluten-free, and other ingredient-sensitive terms have joined vegetarianism, and veganism as popular lifestyle choices (except for Gluten-free, which is also associated with people suffering from Celiac disease). What do these titles mean? Are labels on food to be trusted? Who makes the rules? This article will provide an overview of each, and hopefully point the reader to primary sources of information and law.