PIABA Announces Recipient of First Jim Beckley Golden Bow Tie Award
November 1, 2000. Norman, Oklahoma. The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association ("PIABA") bestowed its first Jim Beckley Golden Bow Tie Award on Richard Ryder, founder and publisher of Securities Arbitration Commentator. Mr. Ryder has long distinguished himself as the neutral voice of the fifth estate in securities arbitration. His efforts and publications have shed the light of day on an otherwise "private" method of dispute resolution, and he has thereby promoted the interests of investors and the public. Securities Arbitration Commentator presents a forum for new ideas, and it is an important source of developments, legal and otherwise, for attorneys representing investors in securities arbitration.
The Jim Beckley Golden Bow Tie Award was named for James E. Beckley, who was President of PIABA from October 1999 until his untimely death on Christmas eve of that year. Jim Beckley was totally committed to the protection of investor rights, and also to the ideals of integrity and fairness. He is greatly missed, and the award was created in his memory. The Beckley award is aptly named, PIABA's current President, Seth E. Lipner, said in bestowing the award, because Jim Beckley "always wore a golden smile, and a big bow tie."
The Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association has over 350 members, all of whom are attorneys who represent public investors in disputes, principally in arbitration, with the financial services industry. PIABA is committed to protecting the rights of aggreived investors and to promoting fairness in securities arbitration. PIABA will bestow the Beckley Award, from time to time, on individuals whose special accomplishments reflects the ideals for which Jim Beckley stood.