Updated – October 28, 2026
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In a recent FINRA arbitration, the attorneys at Chemere Ellis PLLC won dismissal of every claim brought against our financial services client, before the case ever reached a final hearing.
The claimants brought a broad, multi-count case challenging investment recommendations and the firm’s supervision of their account. They sought damages, disgorgement, rescission and punitive damages.
We moved to dismiss under FINRA Rule 12206. That rule bars arbitration of any claim filed more than six years after the events that gave rise to it.
Motions like this are hard to win. Claimants often describe FINRA arbitration as an equitable forum, meant to give investors their day in front of a panel. They often argue that FINRA’s guidance discourages motions to dismiss before a final hearing, and panels are sometimes susceptible to these arguments. Many firms assume that an early dismissal isn’t worth pursuing.
But FINRA arbitration is a forum governed by rules. Those rules apply to every party, and the eligibility rule is one of them. Fairness means the panel must apply the rules, not set them aside.
The claimants tried to keep their case alive.
They didn’t succeed.
At its core, the claim was built on old conduct with no clear dates. It challenged investment decisions from years earlier and called them ongoing wrongdoing in an effort to fit inside the eligibility window.
But the six-year rule doesn’t bend to a vague timeline. The panel found that the claims were based on conduct outside the six-year period. It also found that the claimants had shown no evidence of ongoing conduct by our client that would bring the claims within it.
The panel granted the motion, and all of the claims were dismissed from arbitration.
Under the rule, a dismissal on eligibility grounds removes the claims from the FINRA forum, but claimants keep whatever right they have to pursue them in court. Even so, that’s a real win. A claimant who wants to go forward has to start over in a new forum, under court pleading standards and statutes of limitations that can sometimes be less forgiving.
This ruling reinforces a simple but critical point: applying the FINRA Rules is fairness. When the record supports an eligibility challenge, firms shouldn’t hesitate to raise it, and to raise it well. A Tampa, FL business litigation lawyer can help financial firms evaluate claims, assert procedural defenses, and seek early dismissal when the facts and applicable rules support that approach.
Bottom line: our client avoided the cost of full discovery and a multi-day arbitration hearing, and the claims were dismissed at the pre-hearing stage.
A decisive early win, and a reminder that the Rules matter.
For more information about defending FINRA arbitrations and asserting eligibility defenses, please contact the attorneys at Chemere Ellis, PLLC at (813) 712-8788.
