JOEL DAVIDSON successfully defended a case brought by the SEC in Federal Court in New Jersey. After a 14 day bench trial, the Court dismissed the SEC’s complaint which alleged fraud, frontrunning and excessive mark-ups on institutional trades. See, SEC v. Pasternak, 561 F.Supp.2d 459 (D.N.J. 2008).

SANDRA GRANNUM continues to be an industry member of the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the Financial Industry National Regulatory Authority. This prestigious committee is responsible for reviewing and recommending revisions to the NASD arbitration rules. The committee is composed of industry, claimant and public members. JOEL continues to serve on the ADR committee of the New York Bar Association.

SANDRA was a member of the Employment Panel of the SIFMA Compliance and Legal Division Meeting on April 1, 2008, and at an ABA Litigation Section Breakfast on Securities Arbitration. Sandra also was a Panel on the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s program “Securities Hot Topics” in June 2008. She was a panelist for: the August 2007, PLI “Securities Arbitration 2007” Program; the September 2007, New York State Bar Association’s Mediation Advocacy Program; the October 2007 FINRA Fall Securities Conference Basic Arbitration and Mediation Panel; and, the November 2007 New York State Bar Association Securities Arbitration and Mediation 2007 Program.

JOEL was on a panel at the ABA’s Annual Meeting in New York City in August 2008. The topic was “Seven Deadly Sins in Mediation.” The Panel was featured on http://www.abanet.org/media/youraba/200808/article08.html.

SANDRA and JOEL also served on an ABA breakfast panel, “Hot Topics in Securities Arbitration.”

Recent articles by Sandra Grannum, include; “U-5 Defamation in New York” published by SIFMA for its 2008 Annual Compliance and Legal Service Course Material; “Expungement Developments” published by the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in June 2007 for it Handbook for Securities Arbitration & Mediation Hot Topics 2007; “Recent Developments In the Law of Vacation” published in the August 2007 Handbook on Securities Arbitration 2007 by Practicing Law Institute (“PLI”).

We are pleased to participate as a benefactor of the Center of Hope (Haiti) Annual Gala 2007 on November 1, 2007. The Center of Hope (Haiti) is a not-for-profit dedicated to building an orphanage in Haiti.