George H. Friedman
Adjunct Professor of Law
Phone: 917-841-0521
Fax: 201-692-0662
[email protected]
Personal Website
George H. Friedman is principal of George H. Friedman Consulting, LLC, providing expert advice on arbitration and mediation in general and the FINRA dispute resolution forum in particular. He is former Executive Vice President - Dispute Resolution of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), a position he held through January 2013. He held the same title at NASD, which consolidated with NYSE Member Regulation to form FINRA in 2007. In this capacity, he was in overall charge of FINRA's dispute resolution program, carried out by the company's four regional offices and 72 hearing locations in the United States and abroad, 200 employees, and an annual budget of $50 million. He also served as Secretary of the Securities Industry Conference on Arbitration. He has been referred to by the U.S. Court of Appeals—4th Circuit as a “leading arbitration expert,” and is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s National Panel of Arbitrators.
Professor Friedman is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School, where he has taught a course on alternative dispute resolution since 1996. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Arbitration Resolution Services, Inc. of Coral Springs, Florida. Arbitration Resolution Services is an innovative online arbitration services company facilitating an affordable alternative to costly courtroom litigation and in-person arbitration for resolving Business-to-Business, Business-to-Individual and Vehicle and Property Damage disputes. ARS is unique in that its entire process can be completed online through the company website.
In his extensive dispute resolution career, he previously held a variety of positions of responsibility at the American Arbitration Association, most recently as Senior Vice President from 1994 to 1998. He joined NASD in 1998 as Senior Vice President of NASD's Dispute Resolution Division, and was named Executive Vice President in 2002.
Professor Friedman received a BA in Political Science from Queens College, and a Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School - Newark, where he was an editor of the Law Review. He is admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bars and the United States Supreme Court, and is a Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional. Mr. Friedman is a member of the Securities Experts Roundtable, and of several bar associations. He is past chair of the Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution of the New York County Lawyers Association. He is a member of the Banking Advisory Committee of Bergen Community College.
Professor Friedman has lectured extensively on the subject of alternative dispute resolution, and has the distinction of being one of the architects of the American Arbitration Association’s Due Process Protocols for both employment arbitration and health care dispute resolution. He publishes often, with articles appearing in the Securities Arbitration Commentator, where he is a member of the Board of Editors, the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Magazine, New York Law Journal, the Rutgers Law Review, the National Law Journal, among others. His writings also appear in several blogs, and his scholarly works are on the Social Science Research Network.
Affiliations
He is admitted to the New York and New Jersey Bars, the federal district courts of New Jersey and New York (Eastern and Southern Districts) and the Supreme Court of the United States, and is a member of several bar associations. He also a Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional. He is past chair of the Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution of the New York County Lawyers Association, and is on the Board of Editors of the Securities Arbitration Commentator.
Education
BA in Political Science from Queens College (1976);
Juris Doctor from Rutgers Law School - Newark (1981)
Editor of the Law Review; CRCP from the Wharton – FINRA NASD Institute (2005).
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2014
December: Cuba is Safe for Arbitration. Turns out the US and Cuba have lots in common, arbitration-wise. Published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog.
December: My latest blog post, summarizing my recent Journal of American Law paper on ADR, technology & the future.
December: Justin Bieber, Sunoco, and Arbitration: How Are They Connected? Published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog.
November: Just Like Thanksgiving and Black Friday: Five Truisms about Arbitration — That Aren’t True. Published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog.
November: The Elections are Over: What it means for Consumer Arbitration. Five things to look for in 2015. Published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog.
October: Arbitration has this in Common with the Rolling Stones, published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog. Arbitration Has This In Common With The Rolling Stones
October: Technology, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the Insurance Industry: the Future Has Arrived (Really this Time), just published in the inaugural issue of the Journal of American Law (printable version here).
September: State Supreme Courts Exploring Limits of FAA Preemption, published in the Securities Arbitration Commentator blog.
August: American Arbitration Association Creates Consumer Arbitration Clause Registration Requirement: A Reaction., published in the Securities Arbitration Commentator blog.
August: What’s a Regulator to do? Mandatory Consumer Arbitration, Dodd-Frank, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Magazine.
July: The Camel and the Last Straw or the Frog and the Boiling Water: Pick Your Parable, published Securities Arbitration Commentator. Summary blogged here.
June: Hey Google. We Don't Want to be Forgotten, published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
May: Happy 40th, Rubik's Cube: Solving the Litigation Puzzle, published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
May: Ten Things about Litigation that Arbitration Critics Won’t Tell You, published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
April: What do A-Rod, the NLRB, and General Mills have in Common? published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
April: Time to Eliminate the “Hidden Arbitration Clause Trick,” published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
April: "Trust Me on this One - I'm from the Future!" - Part II, published in the World Future Society blog
April: A George Bailey “Hat Trick” - Et Tu, 9th Circuit?, published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
March: The Future from "Back to the Future II" is Here – Sort of, published in the World Future Society blog.
March: Maybe, Like A-Rod, the NLRB Reads this Blog, published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
March: Puerto Rico Bond Arbitrations: Is Cloud-based ADR a Solution? published Arbitration Resolution Services blog
February: Confessions of an Accidental Futurist, published in the World Future Society blog
February: Arbitration's "Personal Protector" Under the Federal Arbitration Act, published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
January: A-Rod's Chances on Appeal: Rock, Meet Hill, and The A-Rod Saga: Batting 1.000 So Far (See for Yourself), published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
January: New York Trial Court to Parties (and Arbitrators): Settled Means Settled,published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
2013
December: California to Online Arbitration Clause Drafters: Be Really Clear About Proving Your Intentions, published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
November: Election Results are in: Parties, Representatives and Arbitrators are Ready for Cloud-based ADR, published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
November: California Courts on FAA Preemption: Yes, but...." published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
October: More Tech Issues Ahead for Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
October: More Evidence that the Federal Arbitration Act Preemption War is Over,published in the Arbitration Resolution Services blog
September: "Road Trips" in Consumer Arbitration: There Must Be a Better Way, published in the Arbitration Resolution Services, Inc. blog.
September: Federal Courts on Frivolous Motions to Vacate Arbitration Awards: "I'm Mad as Hell, and I'm Not Going to Take this Anymore!" published in the Arbitration Resolution Services, Inc. blog
August: FAA (Federal Arbitration Act) Preemption "Hat Trick," published in the Arbitration Resolution Services, Inc. blog
August: Turns Out an Arbitrator's Duty to Disclose is Biblical in Nature, published in the Arbitration Resolution Services, Inc. blog
July: The Arbitration Fairness Act of 2013: a Well-intended but Potentially Dangerous Overreaction to a Legitimate Concern, published in the Securities Arbitration Commentator
July: See my response to a column critical of FINRA arbitration and the securities industry
May: Why Arbitration Resolution Services? (video)
March: See my response to a column critical of arbitration
May: Defining Who is a Customer in FINRA Arbitration: Time to Clear Things Up!,published in the Securities Arbitration Commentator
2011
November: A Q&A with FINRA Executive Vice President George Friedman, published in the JAMS Dispute Resolution Alert
1980-2001
2001: The Level Playing Field, published in the Securities Arbitration Commentator
1999: Securities Arbitration: Still Effective as the Millennium Dawns, published in the World Arbitration & Mediation Report
1997: Alternative Dispute Resolution and Emerging Online Technologies, published in the Hastings Communication & Entertainment Law Journal ($)
1996: An Information Superhighway "On Ramp" for Alternative Dispute Resolution,published with Robert Gelman in the New York State Bar Journal
1996: Drafting Dispute Resolution Clauses in Complex Business Transactions, published with Howard Aibel in the Dispute Resolution Journal
1995: A Due Process Protocol for Mediation and Arbitration of Statutory Disputes arising out of the Employment Relationship, Reporter and Secretary
1993: The Role of Administered Arbitration, published in the New York Law Journal
1981: Medical Malpractice Arbitration: Time for a Model Act, published in the Rutgers Law Review
Mailing Address
Fordham University School of LawLegal Writing Program
150 West 62nd Street, Room 7-175
New York, NY 10023