|
NEW YORK, NY, October 14, 2003— New York Law School is launching
a Securities Arbitration Clinic in which students will help investors
bring claims against brokers and banks. The clinic will be aided
by $200,000 the school will receive through a settlement reached
last week by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer with former
Qwest Communications International chief executive Joseph Nacchio,
who faced allegations that he improperly received lucrative shares
of initial public offerings.
“I am extremely pleased that we will be adding a Securities Arbitration
Clinic to our clinical and skills curriculum,” said Lawrence Grosberg,
professor of law and director of the Lawyering Skills Center at
New York Law School. “This clinic will provide an excellent opportunity
for our students to assist small investors who otherwise would not
have legal representation. Students will be able to interview and
counsel clients and handle all aspects of the arbitration hearing.”
Professor Aleta Estreicher, an expert in corporate and securities
law, will be overseeing the design and implementation of the
clinic, together with support from the clinical and lawyering skills
faculty, Grosberg said.
Last year, a dozen large Wall Street brokerages agreed to a $1.4
billion global settlement of conflict of interests. Under the agreement
reached with Nacchio, he doesn’t admit or deny the charge against
him. He will pay the settlement involving “IPO spinning,” which
is now prohibited under an enforcement settlement involving Spitzer.
Nacchio will pay a $400,000 settlement to clinics at New York Law
School and St. John’s School of Law.
New York Law School Dean Richard A. Matasar said the school is
pleased to be able to serve the interests of the citizens of New
York by establishing the clinic. “Small investors will benefit greatly
from the creation of a low cost, service-oriented approach to securities
disputes,” Matasar said. “The creation of the clinic is good public
policy and evidences the tremendous creativity of Attorney General
Spitzer in finding an important way to make the settlement of the
Qwest litigation improve the securities industry.
ABOUT NEW YORK LAW SCHOOL
Located near the centers of law, government, and finance in New
York City, New York Law School is one of the oldest independent
law schools in the United States. Its faculty of noted and prolific
scholars has built the school’s curricular strength in the areas
of tax law, labor and employment law, civil and human rights law,
media and information law, urban legal studies, international and
comparative law, and interdisciplinary fields such as legal history
and legal ethics. The Law School enrolls 1,400 students and has
more than 11,000 graduates.
Contact: Jim Hellegaard, New York Law School Public Affairs,
212.431.2191, jhellegaard@nyls.edu
|
