In addition to his ongoing volunteer service as an expert witness and consultant to the Investor Rights Clinic, Ronald Heakins generously sponsored the attendance of 3L Sabrina Serber at the 2023 Public Investor Advocate Bar Association annual meeting and Securities Law Seminar in Colorado Springs, Colorado, held in October.
Heakins—who is also a registered investment adviser—decided to donate this funding after working with the Investor Rights Clinics and its students over the past several years. “From the very first case in which I assisted the Investor Rights Clinic with, I was over the top impressed with the hard work and dedication the students put in to assist victims of financial malfeasance,” said Heakins.
PIABA is an international bar association whose members represent investors in disputes with the securities industry. The mission of PIABA is to promote the interests of the public investor in securities and commodities arbitration by protecting public investors from abuses in the arbitration process, which is mandatory for almost all customers of U.S. brokerage firms.
“The annual PIABA conference has been a great place for me to share my knowledge and to learn from so many that attend this wonderful learning and networking experience which led me to conclude what a great experience it would be for a soon-to-be attorney to learn from some of the leading securities attorney, regulators, and other experts,” said Heakins. “It is my pleasure to be able to have the ability to offer this opportunity to University of Miami law student Sabrina Serber.”
Serber—who served as a clinic intern in fall 2022 and a clinic fellow in spring 2023—was present for each day of the Securities Law Seminar and Annual Meeting, attending sessions on topics including cryptocurrency litigation, investment adviser arbitration, and collecting from poorly capitalized broker-dealers.
“My favorite part of the conference was the crypto litigation panel that I attended because I was able to hear from lawyers who are at the forefront of the issues we are facing with crypto and retail investors, and I was able to see how the securities laws are being applied to these assets,” said Serber. “This was especially interesting because of how new the case law on this issue is.”
After attending the conference, Serber came away with not only an appreciation for PIABA and what its members do for individual retail investors but also for how securities arbitration in front of FINRA works practically and the challenges that lawyers who represent investors face.
“It was great to hear not just from attorneys, but also from regulators and legislators about how some of the issues attorneys are facing are going to be addressed with rule making and other procedures,” said Serber. “I met such amazing people at the conference. I heard so many great stories from lawyers on both the claimant’s and respondent’s side and was able to see first-hand the strong community of lawyers that PIABA has built.”
“We’re very grateful to Ron for his support of the clinic and its students,” said Scott Eichhorn, Director of the Investor Rights Clinic. “And we’re thankful to have wonderful students like Sabrina to represent the clinic and the law school at national events.”
Read more about Miami Law’s Investor Rights Clinic.
