Due to COVID-19, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has administratively postponed all in person arbitration hearings since the COVID-19 pandemic began in spring of 2020.  For all practical purposes, this moratorium on in-person hearings has prevented investors form being able to arbitrate their cases against brokerage firms unless they were willing to proceed with hearings via Zoom. Even then, many brokerage firms objected to proceeding via Zoom and, in many instances, arbitrators upheld those objections.

FINRA has now announced that it is ending the moratorium on in-person hearings in 62 of the 69 FINRA hearing locations across the United States, including New Orleans, Louisiana.  This exciting development will allow most aggrieved investors to proceed with their cases and attempt to obtain justice.  The remaining seven hearing locations where in-person proceedings are still administratively postponed are Augusta, Boca Raton, Buffalo, Detroit, Philadelphia, Providence and Wilmington.  In those locations, hearings will remain postponed until at least July 30, 2021.