April 1, 2008
Please accept the following comments in support of the proposed rule on dispositive motions.
I am an attorney who represents public investors in disputes against Wall Street and the securities industry. Over the last several years, I have seen the widespread use (and abuse) of Motions to Dismiss to delay proceedings and increase costs to investors in pursuit of their claims.
Motions to Dismiss, by their very nature, run afoul of the principles of arbitration. Arbitration is meant to be an informal, efficient and low cost alternative to litigation. The securities industry mandates this forum in their customer agreements for those reasons. However, through the filing of Motions to Dismiss, and numerous other tactics, the industry has pushed arbitration away from its founding principles and toward more adversarial litigation.
I respectfully ask that you approve this rule on an accelerated basis.