Most Americans now struggle to save for retirement.  The ones fortunate enough to have some savings set aside often don’t have much.  For help allocating those savings, many turn to commission-compensated stockbrokers.  In many instances, these stockbrokers give their clients “suitable” advice.  The advice might not be the best, but decent, suitable advice often helps substantially.

Of course, not all stockbrokers give suitable advice.  Sometimes, a financial adviser decides to chase a bigger commission and pushes a client into a direction that isn’t in his or her best interest.  One financial adviser coined Brown’s Law of Broker Compensation to explain the dynamic.  In short, the worse a product is for clients, the more a broker will be paid to sell it to clients.

Access to representation shifts with the amount of damages in play.  Clients with big problems can often find a eager lawyer.  Clients that suffer $15,000 in damages may struggle to find representation.  These cases are complex.  They require substantial skill and diligence to resolve.  The potential compensation for these relatively smaller cases may not motivate the private bar to provide representation.

Securities arbitration clinics provide an option.  These relatively rare clinics take on a few of these smaller matters.  They provide representation and train law students using live, complex disputes at the same time.  One clinic even works with its state regulator to provide enforcement assistance.  But there are only about fifteen of them to serve the entire nation.  Still, they are a decent resource.  If you know someone that has had a problem, consider sending them to a securities clinic for assistance.