Adam Gana Takes Over as President of PIABA

Adam Gana Named New President of Public Investors Advocate Bar Association, Outlines Extensive Agenda

WASHINGTON, DC (September 30, 2024) – The Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA) announced that Adam Gana, a nationally recognized securities arbitration attorney, is the new president of the association.

Mr. Gana outlined a far-reaching agenda to start his 2024-2025 term, which includes:

Advocating for mandatory insurance for investment advisers and broker-dealers. Solving the financial crisis requires access to financial advice. Yet financial professionals often operate without insurance, collecting fees and commissions from customers and leaving them penniless when substandard advice causes harm. Insurance coverage would provide protection for investors and allow the market to discipline misconduct.
Reforming investment advisory arbitration. Forced arbitration is unfair to investors. Investors should not be forced into expensive, foreign venues without better choices. Current arbitration agreements price investors out of justice and they need to be fixed.
Tackling the problem of fraud facilitators. Financial scams are becoming one of the biggest problems for Main Street Americans. Broker-dealers are the gate keepers of investor money. They must do a better job of protecting that money from scams.
Updating the FINRA Discovery Guide. FINRA has used the same discovery guidelines since 2013. It is time that FINRA updated those guidelines to reflect the changes in technology and the need for documentation in FINRA arbitrations.Adam Gana is the managing partner of Gana Weinstein LLP. His practice focuses on all aspects of securities arbitration, complex commercial and business litigation.Adam has served as an adjunct professor for New York Law School in its clinical securities department and has published multiple peer-reviewed securities arbitration papers.
Outgoing PIABA President and New Orleans attorney Joseph Peiffer said: “I am excited to see the important work that PIABA does for Main Street investors continue.”

Mr. Gana said: “As I take over the role of PIABA president, I feel an overwhelming sense of joy. I have served as a board member of this organization for nearly ten years. I take investor protection seriously and hope to have a lasting and meaningful impact on this association.”

PIABA will also continue its outreach and support of the Department of Labor (DOL)’s Retirement Security Rule. This outreach includes PIABA President Joseph Peiffer’s testimony before the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions over the DOL rule proposal, citing dozens of examples of hard-working American retirees who lost their life savings due to conflicted advice from their financial advisors, and his presentation at the White House Older Americans Month Convening about the Retirement Security Rule to protect retirement savers from conflicted financial advisor advice.

PIABA also announced that Michael Bixby will serve as the Executive Vice President / President Elect. Joe Wojciechowski was elected as the incoming Vice-President along with Courtney Werning as Secretary and Lance McCardle as Treasurer.

PIABA also welcomed its new Board members: August Iorio, Joshua Kons, Richard Lewins, and Scott Silver.

ABOUT PIABA

The Public Investors Advocate Bar Association is an international, not-for-profit, voluntary bar association of lawyers who represent claimants in securities and commodities arbitration proceedings and securities litigation. The mission of PIABA is to promote the interests of the public investor in securities arbitration, by seeking to protect such investors from abuses in the arbitration process, by seeking to make securities arbitration as just and fair as systemically possible and by educating investors concerning their rights. For more information, go to https://www.piaba.org.

CONTACT: Max Karlin, (703) 276-3255 or mkarlin@hastingsgroupmedia.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Adam Gana is available for media interviews to help update reporters about the current problems many attorneys experience with the investor arbitration process, and how PIABA is dedicated to finding and researching the best possible solutions for investors.

Hear what our members say about PIABA.

See how PIABA has helped protect others in investment disputes within the securities industry.

“The resources and networking opportunities provided by PIABA have been instrumental in my career development. When I was new to the practice, I was surrounded by mentors and friends who were always willing to help. Over the 12+ years I have been a member, PIABA has consistently been my most valuable support. As an experienced lawyer, PIABA offers leadership roles and opportunities to give back by mentoring the next generation of attorneys in this area. You won’t regret getting involved.”

Meyer Wilson

Courtney M. Werning, Esq. | Principal

“I have been a PIABA member since the year of its founding in 1991. For 33 years PIABA has been an unparalleled source of information and ideas, and remains an integral part of my law practice. More important, I count many of its members as my friends. PIABA has greatly enriched my life, both professionally and socially.”

Leonard Steiner

STEINER & LIBO

“Piaba has been instrumental to the growth of my career. I have made lifelong friends and have attended every annual meeting for the last 15 years. The list-serve, the dedication of its members and its national reach is the gold standard for any bar association.”

Gana Weinstein

Adam J. Gana | Managing Partner

“PIABA is the greatest bar association I have had the privilege of being a part of. PIABA and its membership have been instrumental in my growth and development as a securities litigation attorney in representing and fighting for investors. As a member of PIABA you will find many attorneys across the country who are willing to help you from sharing practice tips to arguments. There is no organization doing more good for the investing public than PIABA.”

Michael C. Bixby

Bixby Law PLLC | Founder & Managing Attorney