Luke Colle

Cornell Securities Law Clinic student Luke Colle ’21, will publish an article entitled “An Investor’s FINRA Rule 12200 Arbitration Right Should Supersede a Contrary Forum-Selection Agreement” in the PIABA Bar Journal (PBJ), a journal that selects articles on the cutting edge of topics in securities litigation, arbitration, and regulation. PIABA is the preeminent international organization of members who represent the interests of retail investors.

Colle’s article examines how certain Circuit Courts of Appeals are split as to whether an investor and broker-dealer should arbitrate or litigate, when an investor invokes their regulatory right to arbitration under FINRA Rule 12200, but the parties have already contracted to a forum-selection provision that has designated a court for litigation. The article also questions the securities industry’s argument that a customer can be forced to waive a right to arbitration under Rule 12200. Colle’s article explores the Exchange Act, Dodd-Frank, and Rule 12200’s regulatory framework—among other sources of law—and concludes that a customer’s right to arbitrate under Rule 12200 supersedes a contrary forum-selection agreement between a broker dealer and that customer, even if the customer is another financial institution.

“Luke immersed himself into a deep study of these evolving forum selection issues as part of his course work in the clinic” said Professor Birgitta Siegel, who taught Colle in the Securities Law Clinic 2 and guided him with his paper. “His article provides a stellar resource on these crucial issues gaining increased attention within the securities industry.”