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.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

Thank you so very much for your guidance, patience, and expertise.

Beth and Steve K.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

September 17, 2025
FINRA Suspends Centaurus Dallas Broker Over Excessive Alternative Investment Sales

FINRA has suspended a Centaurus Financial broker, William Burks, for four months after finding he placed as much as 91 percent of a client’s net worth into illiquid alternative investments.

September 16, 2025
Former Morgan Stanley Advisors Win Partial Court Victory in Client Solicitation Dispute

Two former Morgan Stanley advisors in Hackensack, New Jersey have defeated Morgan Stanley’s initial effort to block them from soliciting clients, according to an August 15 order from New Jersey Superior Court.

September 15, 2025
California Young-Gun Investor Charged in Alleged $6 Million Ponzi Scheme

Federal prosecutors have accused Mihir Deepak Sukthankar, a California resident once celebrated as a teenage trading “prodigy,” of orchestrating a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme.