About the Firm

Deutsch & Lipner is a law firm that was formed in 1985. Its principals are Herbert M. Deutsch and Seth E. Lipner. Stuart C. Goldberg is Senior Counsel. Collectively, Messrs. Deutsch, Lipner and Goldberg have over seventy years experience practicing extensively in securities arbitration and related litigation.

Herbert M. Deutsch is a graduate of Cornell University and the Law School at the University of Southern California. Before Deutsch & Lipner was formed, Mr. Deutsch was affiliated with law firms that advised, developed and drafted limited partnership agreements. In addition to his work in securities, Mr. Deutsch also represents individual and corporate clients in real estate, tax and general legal matters. Mr. Deutsch has appeared on CNN and has been quoted by the New York Times and Bloomberg News Service on several occasions with regard to legal actions involving Merrill Lynch.

Seth E. Lipner is Professor of Law at the Zicklin School of Business of Bernard M. Baruch College in New York City, where he has been on the full-time faculty for 32 years. Prof. Lipner is the author of numerous scholarly articles and law books on fields as diverse as international trade law, securities arbitration, and law and technology. As a member of Deutsch & Lipner, Mr. Lipner focuses his practice on representing investors and other individuals with grievances against providers of financial services. The balance of Mr. Lipner's practice is federal and state court litigation.

Mr. Lipner served as President of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) between 2000-01, as well as in 1994-95, and has served as Secretary to the organization and on its Board of Directors since the organization's inception in 1990, and now holds the title "Director Emeritus." Until 2001, Mr. Lipner served on the Board of Editors of Securities Arbitration Commentator. He is now a member of the Board of Editors of the PIABA Bar Journal, and he writes a regular column there titled “From the Professor.” Mr. Lipner also served on the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the NASD from 1998 to 2002.

Mr. Lipner has appeared on CNN, NPR, BBC and the Wall Street Journal Report, and has been quoted in publications such as Forbes, Business Week, Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Newsday, Investment News, the New York Law Journal and the National Law Journal. Mr. Lipner’s essay, "The Case Against Restitution," was published on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times on May 2, 2003. An article about the clawback suits involving arch-thief Bernard Madoff appeared in The Jewish Week. From 2009 to 2011, Mr. Lipner was a columnist for Forbes.com, where he wrote about investor issues. His scholarly writings have been cited by, among others, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the Southern District of Texas, and the Federal District Court in Connecticut.

Prof. Lipner’s encyclopedic treatise, “Securities Arbitration Desk Reference,” written together with Emeritus Professor Joe Long of Oklahoma Law School and Prof. William Jacobson of Cornell Law School, is available from West Publishing. The blog of a leading securities arbitration law firm describes the book: "Professors Seth Lipner and Joe Long have put together an essential reference book which all attorneys should bring to the hearing."

Mr. Lipner speaks often to bar groups, and in continuing legal education programs, including the New York State Bar Association, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Practicing Law Institute, and PIABA. Mr. Lipner publishes extensively on various aspects of law and arbitration, particularly on issues involving arbitration administered by FINRA. The text of many articles is accessible on this website.

In addition to representing clients in securities arbitrations and litigation, Mr. Lipner argued three major cases in the New York Court of Appeals concerning investor-rights in arbitration: Smith Barney v. Luckie, Smith Barney v. Sacharow, and Kidder Peabody v. Sanders. He has authored several amicus curiae briefs on behalf of investors, including the PIABA brief in Mastrobuono v. Shearson Lehman. Mr. Lipner also acted as lead counsel on behalf of the investors in the Adler Coleman bankruptcy, the largest proceeding ever against SIPC.

Stuart C. Goldberg is the dean of securities arbitration. The author of many leading books and treatises, he is best known for his large victories over Prudential Securities in cases involving the limited partnership scandals of the 1990s. In addition to 35 years as an attorney, he is an accountant, a former U.S. prosecutor, former law professor, and the holder of numerous aviation records. Mr. Goldberg's latest securities related book is entitled "PIABA's 2001 Practice Guide to NASD Discovery and Pre-Hearing Proceedings." In 1990, Mr. Goldberg conceived the idea of PIABA, and became its first President, and inspirational leader.

In March 2002, Messrs. Lipner and Goldberg recovered $3 million for a client in a case against Merrill Lynch. It was the first such award in a case involving losses from employee stock options.

In 2006, Deutsch & Lipner won over $1 million in an arbitration against Merrill Lynch on behalf of a former employee of United Parcel Service based on inappropriate investment advice.

In 2010, Deutsch & Lipner won three arbitration awards against UBS for its sale of Lehman Brothers’ so-called Principal Protected Notes, and another against UBS for its sale of Fannie Mae (FNM) preferred stock.

In 2013, Deutsch & Lipner defeated JP Morgan in a case, brought on behalf of an ultra-high net worth international investor, alleging failed execution of an order to liquidate securities held in that investor’s account.

In 2014, Deutsch & Lipner won over $5.3 million in Dulin v. UBS (including $1 million in punitive damages), also arising from UBS’s improper marketing of Principal-Protected Notes.

Since its inception, Deutsch & Lipner has counseled and/or represented thousands of investors who have legal disputes with brokerage firms, and others in the financial community. The firm has represented clients across the country, against virtually every major and regional financial services company, in both arbitration and the courts. These cases have involved claims including churning, inadequate disclosure, unauthorized trading, breach of contract, improper execution, stock manipulation, negligence, fraud, and unsuitability. Most cases result in settlement, but Deutsch & Lipner has a reputation for dogged advocacy and a willingness to go to trial on meritorious cases. That approach to practicing law – all too rare in today’s sign-em-up-then-settle legal culture, inures to the benefit of all of Deutsch & Lipner’s clients.

The firm represents has held "AV Preeminent" rating from Martindale-Hubbell for over ten years.