Bryan T. Forman is a licensed Texas attorney-mediator residing in Austin, Texas. He has been engaged in the private practice of law since 1987 and has spent the majority of his career in the brokerage industry, serving as Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel for brokerage firms which he founded. Concurrently, he gained experience in the private equity field, founding a private equity hedge fund whose strategy was private equity investments into public companies. His legal practice is focused on representing public investors and market participants in the securities industry. Mr. Forman received his Juris Doctor degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law in 1987, and his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from The University of Texas/Austin in 1984.
Prior to establishing a successful arbitration practice, Mr. Forman provided mediation services primarily to the securities brokerage industry and business community, conducting mediations in all areas of the country. He is an approved mediator for FINRA and the NFA, utilizing a hands-on, evaluative mediation style and through his industry experience is able to assist counsel and parties in successfully reaching a resolution of complex disputes in the securities industry. Additionally, he mediates all forms of business and commercial disputes. He is an approved attorney-mediator in Texas, and has been a member of several mediation and alternative dispute resolution organizations. He has held the status of a “Credentialed Mediator” by the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association.
Mr. Forman is a licensed Texas attorney and owner of Forman Law Firm, P.C. Mr. Forman represents parties in the brokerage and securities industry, including brokerage firms, customers, registered representatives, officers and directors, shareholders, limited partners and other participants in the investment industry.
Mr. Forman serves as a consulting and testifying expert witness for counsel involved in securities disputes. Typically, his engagement will cover investigation of claims and parties, profit and loss analysis of customer accounts, commission and turnover analysis, damage calculations, determination of suitability and industry standards of care, research of industry rules and regulations and their applicability to the case, discovery, settlement and hearing strategies, demonstrative evidence, and attendance at settlement conferences, mediations and hearings, including testifying before the applicable tribunal.
From 1990 to 1996, Mr. Forman served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for two brokerage firms located in Dallas and Austin, Texas. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Forman was founder, Chairman of the Board and Chairman of the Board of First Avantus Securities, Inc. (f/k/a First Financial Investment Securities, Inc.), a Texas based stock brokerage firm and investment bank which he founded in 1996. He sold his interest in the firm to pursue a mediation and law practice in the securities industry. His duties included overall management of the brokerage, corporate finance, and research and trading operations of the firm, in addition to managing his clients’ personal accounts. He was also responsible for compliance training of all branch management.
Prior to founding First Financial, Mr. Forman served as President, Compliance Officer and General Counsel of Dallas Research & Trading, Inc., a boutique research and trading brokerage firm which he co-founded. His duties included all regulatory and business affairs of the firm.
In the year 2000, Mr. Forman was elected to serve on the District Committee of the National Association of Securities Dealers for District 6, and served as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Committee in years 2001 and 2002/3 respectively. Mr. Forman also was elected to the NASD Small Firm Advisory Board. The Small Firm Advisory Board acts to ensure that issues of particular interest and concern to smaller member firms, and the potential impact on smaller firms of regulatory and market structure initiatives, will be effectively communicated to and considered by the NASD Board of Governors. Additionally, Mr. Forman served on the Advisory Council of the NASD, a council made up of Chairpersons of the District Committees to originate and review regulatory and market structure initiatives for the NASD membership.
Mr. Forman also founded and managed a Texas based investment advisory firm which managed a series of hedge fund investments for accredited investors.
Mr. Forman serves as a Chairperson Arbitrator and Mediator for FINRA, and was included in the roster of arbitrators and mediators for the NYSE and NFA. Prior to entering the securities industry in 1991, Mr. Forman was engaged in the private practice of law for a large law firm in Dallas, Texas. He has attended basic and advanced mediator and arbitration training, and continues his legal education in the securities regulation and business law fields. He is an active investor.