Commonwealth Financial and Former Edward Jones Advisors Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million in Arbitration Award

Posted on April 9th, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Commonwealth Financial and Former Edward Jones Advisors Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million in Arbitration Award

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

An arbitration panel has ordered independent broker-dealer Commonwealth Financial and a group of advisors formerly with Edward D. Jones & Co. to pay $3.5 million following a legal dispute over their departure, according to an arbitration award.

AdvisorHub reports that Edward Jones had alleged that Commonwealth and eight brokers who left in late 2022 to form Cedarwood Financial Partners in Temple, Texas, and Olean, New York, engaged in misconduct, including violations of trade secret laws, civil conspiracy, and breaches of contract and fiduciary duty. According to AdvisorHub, Edward Jones claimed the departures severely disrupted its business operations across parts of Texas and New York.

Edward Jones welcomed the decision, stating that it held the former advisors accountable for their violations and Commonwealth responsible for facilitating their wrongful actions.

AdvisorHub reports that the firm initially had sought over $16 million in damages but was awarded significantly less.

Commonwealth and the advisors denied any wrongdoing and counterclaimed that Edward Jones had disparaged them and interfered with customer relationships by providing misleading or inaccurate information to customers. The arbitration panel rejected their counterclaims.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

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