The University of Miami School of Law's Investor Rights Clinic (IRC) recently assisted in the first claim on behalf of a victim of securities fraud under Florida's newly amended Securities Guaranty Fund. Over several semesters, the clinic students worked on amending the fund, enhancing the scope of permissible claims, and increasing the amounts recoverable. A recent Florida Bar Journal article, co-authored by the associate director of the clinic, Melanie Cherdack, details the amendments to the fund, which provides for restitution to victims of securities fraud violations in Florida.
The IRC's involvement in shaping the amendments to the fund was an impactful educational experience for the students. "Working on the amendments to the Florida statute at the clinic was an incredible learning experience,” said Sophia Burke, J.D. ’25, who worked on those amendments. “It was rewarding to see how our team’s research and advocacy could help shape a program that provides meaningful protection and recovery for Florida investors who have been harmed by securities fraud.”
This legislative advocacy work on behalf of the investing public is a core part of the clinic’s mission. The IRC, having helped draft the amendments, recently represented the first client to be approved for a restitution payment from the fund. “Our students had the opportunity to see the efforts of their work come to fruition, which is extremely rewarding,” said Cherdack.
Meeting with FINRA regulators in Washington, D.C.
The clinic’s commitment to advocacy and education was further highlighted by its semiannual trip to Washington, D.C. A team of third-year School of Law students, all IRC fellows, traveled to the capital to meet in person with regulators at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to discuss policymaking and investor protection.
The law students, who were joined by investor rights clinics from four other law schools, had the invaluable opportunity to discuss current regulatory and legal issues important to the investing public. FINRA is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect investors and ensure the integrity of the securities markets by regulating broker-dealers and brokerage firms in the United States.
“Meeting with FINRA regulators allowed us to understand not just the advances they have made in retail investor protection,” said Jackson Gillespie, a 3L who visited the regulators' offices in October, “but also their initiatives in market policy, industry enforcement, and what they are doing to address concerning trends in third-party fraud and scams targeting senior investors."
The timing of the visit proved especially relevant, allowing the fellows to discuss emerging threats they are seeing in their own clinic work.
"The opportunity to meet with FINRA regulators was especially meaningful this year as the students were able to discuss online and social media scams, things that we are now seeing more of in our clinic. To learn firsthand about the efforts the regulators are taking to combat and prevent this insidious method of financial fraud was quite enlightening," Cherdack said.
"As a fellow for the Investor Rights Clinic, this opportunity increased my understanding not only of what FINRA does,” Gillespie said, “but also how we can better serve our clients in the clinic."
The IRC, one of nine clinics offered at the School of Law, is staffed by second and third-year law students. The clinic, directed by Scott Eichhorn, represents underserved investors in securities arbitration claims against their brokers before FINRA, providing a pro bono resource to individuals of modest means who have suffered investment losses due to broker misconduct but cannot find legal representation because of the size of their claim. The clinic’s advocacy work, from Tallahassee to D.C., continually reinforces its mission to protect and educate the investing public.
Read more about the School of Law’s clinics.
Read more about the business law area of study.
