At its 2017 Annual Meeting, Deanna Besbekos-LaPage and Darlene Pasieczny were named recipients of the 2017 PIABA Outstanding Service Award for their service and contributions to Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA).
A member of the PIABA since 2013, Ms. Besbekos-LaPage currently serves on the Amicus and State Legislation Committees. She served as the co-Chair of the Amicus Committee in 2016 and 2017.
Deanna Besbekos-LaPage graduated cum laude in May 2009 from the University of Illinois-Chicago with a B.A. in Psychology, and cum laude in May 2012 from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Ms. Besbekos-LaPage earned a Dean’s Scholarship while attending The John Marshall Law School and was on the Dean’s List. She won the Hellenic Bar Association Scholarship in October 2010 and served as the President of the Hellenic Law Students Association. Ms. Besbekos-LaPages also won CALI Awards in Payment Systems and Illinois Civil Procedure. While attending college and law school, Ms. Besbekos-LaPage worked as a law clerk for Stoltmann Law Offices.
Ms. Besbekos-LaPage was admitted to practice law in Illinois in November 2012. Additionally, she is admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She is a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association, Justinian Society of Lawyers, Hellenic Bar Association, Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, Illinois Bar Association, and Chicago Bar Association.
A member of the PIABA since 2012, Darlene Pasieczny currently serves as the co-Chair of the Securities Law Seminar Committee, sits on the Arbitration Committee, SRO Committee, and the California Mid-Year Meeting Committee. Ms. Pasieczny was elected by the PIABA membership to serve on the PIABA Board of Directors during the its Business Meeting in October.
As part of the securities and fiduciary litigation team at Samuels Yoelin Kantor, Ms. Pasieczny’s focus is on investor protection and investment loss recovery for individuals, fiduciaries, groups, retirement funds, pension plans, municipalities, and institutional investors in court and FINRA arbitration. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is the self-regulatory organization that regulates and licenses securities brokerage firms and individual brokers across the country. FINRA arbitration is the main forum in the securities industry for resolution of legal disputes between investors and these industry professionals.
Darlene is a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), where she is active on the group’s SRO Committee which researches and prepares comment letters on proposed FINRA and SEC rule changes. She also speaks on rule changes and recent developments at FINRA, including at the 33rd Annual Northwest Securities Institute seminar.
In her law practice, Darlene brings a particular sensitivity to working with the all-too often targets of securities fraud — retirees and women investors from every level of investment experience. Pasieczny (pronounced “Pah-shetch-nee”) is a Polish surname. Darlene’s mother and paternal grandparents immigrated to the U.S.. They instilled in her a strong emphasis on education, hard work, and justice for the underrepresented.
Awarded to one or more PIABA Members annually, the PIABA Outstanding Service Award honors the very best in the PIABA Membership," said Robin Ringo, PIABA Executive Director. "An incredible amount of personal time is dedicated by members to serving PIABA through its committees and investor protection initiatives. It is with a deep sense of gratitude that we thank Ms. Besbekos-LaPage and Ms. Pasieczny for their dedication to PIABA and the rights of public investors."