Ross B. Intelisano

Ross B. Intelisano is a founding partner of Rich, Intelisano & Katz, LLP.  He represents individual and institutional investors in securities arbitration and litigation against financial firms, employees in industry disputes, employees in transitions from one financial firm to another, and employees in self-regulatory organization investigations. 

Ross has over two decades of experience trying large and complex financial fraud cases on behalf of investors worldwide, including winning the largest arbitration award ever against Goldman Sachs.  His clients include high net worth individuals, family offices, hedge funds, funds of funds, endowments, non-profits and other institutions in claims against brokerage firms, investment and private banks, investment advisors, hedge funds and other financial companies.

Ross is presently a member of the prestigious FINRA National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC) which makes recommendations to FINRA regarding rules, regulations and procedures that govern the conduct of arbitration, mediation, and other dispute resolution matters.

Within the Wall Street employment sphere, Ross has represented CEO’s and other C-Suite executives, traders, salespersons, investment bankers, hedge fund and private equity executives, and scores of high end financial advisors and large broker teams in transitions amongst firms, disputes with employers and issues with regulators. 

New York Super Lawyers, a publication of The New York Times Magazine, has named Ross as one of New York’s top Securities Litigation attorneys every year since 2010.

Ross is a leading authority on securities and financial fraud and is a frequent television and print commentator. He has appeared on The Today Show, Dateline NBC, Anderson Cooper 360, PBS’s Frontline, Closing Bell and various other CNBC shows, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox Business News programs. He has been quoted extensively by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, Business Week, Vanity Fair, Bloomberg, Dow Jones, AdvisorHub, On Wall Street, and other financial publications.  

Ross was a featured interviewee in the PBS Frontline documentary, The Madoff Affair, the seminal film about Bernard Madoff.  https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-the-madoff-affair/

Ross’ Wins for Investors

Ross and his team have won some of the largest securities arbitration awards ever recorded, including the largest arbitration award ever rendered against Goldman Sachs.  It was a $21 million FINRA arbitration award on behalf of the Creditors’ Committee of the Bayou Hedge Fund run by convicted fraudster Sam Israel.  The 18-day hearing generated a 100% recovery of the compensatory damages requested. The award was confirmed by Judge Rakoff of the SDNY and upheld on appeal by the Second Circuit.  

Ross and his partner John Rich were also co-trial counsel in the Engel, et al. v. Refco commodities Ponzi scheme case at the National Futures Association (NFA). The 100-day group arbitration on behalf of 13 individuals and family run businesses generated a $43 million award in 2001, which at the time was the largest collected arbitration award ever rendered on behalf of public customers against a brokerage firm. 

In 2016, Ross and his team won $10 million in damages for an upstate New York family and defeated a $6 million counterclaim related to a customer debit in a FINRA arbitration award against a clearing firm for its actions related to an RIA.  The Montfort v. CL King award after 44 days of arbitration hearings was confirmed in court and paid. 

In December 2009, Ross and his team won a $3.4 million arbitration award on behalf of Racetrac Petroleum (the 31st largest private company in the US) against Bear Stearns related to the High Grade Structured Credit Strategies hedge funds which blew up in July 2007 and was the first major sign of the financial crisis.  It was the first and only victory by any High Grade investor and was rendered after the criminal acquittals of portfolio managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin.  Ross and team later resolved a group arbitration on behalf of 13 investors from around the world who had lost over $40 million in the funds. 

Ross and the Firm resolved a $15 million dispute on behalf of a fuel and heating oil company against MF Global related to the purchase of OTC derivatives, including swaps and options, pursuant to an ISDA agreement. The case was litigated in court in New York as well as in two FINRA arbitrations.

Ross successfully represented numerous investors in group claims against investment advisors and banks for failing to do proper due diligence in their recommendation of Bernard Madoff-related feeder funds. He also represented many investors in substantial arbitrations against Citigroup related to the ASTA/MAT and Falcon hedge funds which all settled.