Top Firms: Average Compensatory Award

Overview

Not all FINRA arbitration practices are created equal. Some firms handle a steady stream of small-dollar disputes, others focus on expungments, while still others operate at the top of the market—consistently appearing in cases where millions of dollars are at stake.

To identify these firms, we analyzed every FINRA arbitration award issued between 2021 and 2025, ranking firms by average compensatory award with a minimum of five cases during the period. The five-case threshold ensures these rankings reflect sustained performance rather than a single headline result.

The firms that emerge tell a revealing story about who handles the highest-stakes work in FINRA arbitration—and they represent a surprisingly diverse set of practice areas.

The Top Three

1. Interactive Brokers — $5.07M Average, 6 Cases

Interactive Brokers is the only non-law-firm on this list, and that distinction is itself noteworthy. One of the world's largest self-directed brokerage platforms, IB handles its own FINRA litigation through in-house counsel—both pursuing claims against customers and defending against customer complaints.

Their caseload spans the full range of broker-customer disputes: breach of contract actions, defense of margin-related claims, and complex multi-party matters. Their largest result during this period was a $26.8M counter-claim win in a case where a customer filed suit and IB prevailed on counter-claim.

2. Erez Law — $4.69M Average, 8 Cases

Erez Law is a dedicated investor protection plaintiff firm, and their #2 ranking reflects a practice built around representing retail investors and family trusts in high-stakes securities disputes.

Every one of their eight cases during this period followed the same model: individual investors or trusts suing broker-dealers for breach of fiduciary duty, securities fraud, and violations of state securities acts.

Their results range from a $147,000 recovery to a landmark $26.5M award in case 23-01342—the largest compensatory award in all of FINRA arbitration in 2025. But the wins in between tell the real story: $475,000, $687,000, $900,000, $1.88M, and $2.90M recoveries across separate matters.

3. Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton — $2.94M Average, 6 Cases

Sheppard Mullin is an AmLaw 100 firm that appears in FINRA arbitration primarily as outside counsel for major financial institutions. During this period, five of their six cases involved U.S. Bancorp Investments as the claimant in promissory note and breach of contract actions.

Their sixth case was a complex multi-party dispute (case 19-00926) involving Axos Clearing as a third-party respondent and counter-claimant, resulting in a $16.8M award on claims of breach of fiduciary duty and fraud.

Firms 4–10

4. Albert & Will — $2.13M Average, 9 Cases

Albert & Will represents Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley in promissory note enforcement actions against departing financial advisors. Their nine cases during this period include a $7.36M recovery on twelve separate promissory notes in a single matter.

5. Sack & Sack — $2.03M Average, 9 Cases

Sack & Sack represents financial professionals suing their employers. Their practice centers on advisors and bankers bringing claims for unpaid compensation, wrongful termination, and defamatory Form U-5 filings. Results include a $14.4M recovery in a deferred compensation dispute and a $1.82M wrongful termination award.

6. Lax & Neville — $1.94M Average, 10 Cases

Lax & Neville's ten cases span both employment disputes—associated persons suing firms for breach of contract, defamatory U-5 filings, and unpaid wages—and investor protection matters where customers sued broker-dealers for securities fraud and failure to supervise. Their two largest awards ($5.48M and $5.16M) were both employment cases involving senior advisors with deferred compensation claims.

7. Greenberg Traurig — $1.83M Average, 11 Cases

Greenberg Traurig's FINRA arbitration practice is built primarily around Morgan Stanley. Their eleven cases include both promissory note recovery and counter-claims against advisors who sued Morgan Stanley. Results range from mid-six-figures to $5.58M, with no single outlier dominating the average.

8. Shumaker Loop & Kendrick — $1.59M Average, 13 Cases

Shumaker Loop & Kendrick's 13 cases are the second-highest count on this list, driven primarily by their role as outside counsel for Ameriprise Financial in promissory note and settlement enforcement. Their caseload also includes employment defense and counter-claim litigation.

9. Dorsey & Whitney — $1.55M Average, 7 Cases

Dorsey & Whitney appears primarily as outside counsel for RBC Capital Markets. Five of their seven cases involve RBC as claimant in promissory note recovery actions, with results ranging from $36,000 to $7.12M.

10. Law Offices of Jonathan E Neuman — $1.33M Average, 15 Cases

The Law Offices of Jonathan E Neuman has the highest case count on this list at 15—nearly double the next most prolific firm. Every case follows the same model: retail investors suing broker-dealers for churning, unauthorized trading, unsuitable recommendations, and fraud. Results range from $10,000 to $9.78M.

What stands out is the diversity of practice types represented. This is not a list dominated by a single kind of firm. The top 10 breaks down into three distinct categories of FINRA arbitration practice:

Investor protection plaintiff firms — Erez Law (#2) and the Law Offices of Jonathan E Neuman (#10) represent retail investors suing broker-dealers. These firms handle the cases at the heart of FINRA's consumer protection mission, from small-dollar churning disputes to multi-million-dollar fraud claims.

Institutional recovery and defense — Sheppard Mullin (#3), Albert & Will (#4), Greenberg Traurig (#7), Shumaker Loop & Kendrick (#8), and Dorsey & Whitney (#9) represent major financial institutions enforcing contractual obligations and defending against claims by departing advisors. Each firm has built a deep institutional client relationship that drives consistent case volume.

Financial professional employment — Sack & Sack (#5) and Lax & Neville (#6) represent the advisors and bankers themselves—fighting for unpaid compensation, challenging wrongful terminations, and correcting defamatory regulatory filings.

Methodology

Data source: FINRA arbitration awards database

Period: All awards issued between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2025

Inclusion criteria: Firms appearing as counsel in at least five cases with compensatory damages awarded during the period

Average calculation: Mean compensatory damages awarded across qualifying cases, ignoring attorney fees, costs, punitive damages, interest, and FINRA fees

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Disclaimer: This blog post is based on publicly available FINRA arbitration award data. While we strive for accuracy, firm names, case details, and award amounts should be independently verified for case-specific research. Rankings reflect cases where firms appeared as counsel for a party receiving compensatory damages and may not capture the full scope of a firm's FINRA arbitration practice. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.