Judge Directs RIA's Poaching Suit Against Cambridge to Arbitration
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
A Virginia federal judge recently dismissed a complaint filed by a registered investment advisor (RIA), Colonial River Wealth Advisors, against broker-dealer Cambridge Investment Research, in favor of arbitration to resolve the dispute.
The lawsuit, filed on November 10, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Richmond, accused the broker-dealer of assisting advisor Jayne W. Di Vincenzo, also a defendant in the suit, in soliciting her clients from Colonial River after she sold her business.
The plaintiff claimed damages of at least $8 million, accusing Cambridge Investment and Di Vincenzo of tortious interference with contract and tortious interference with business expectancy. The RIA further alleged that Cambridge and Di Vincenzo engaged in business conspiracy and common-law civil conspiracy and that Di Vincenzo breached her contract.
However, according to ThinkAdvisor, Judge Roderick C. Young granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the claims due to a lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Judge Young ordered the parties to resolve the dispute through arbitration, stating that the matter falls under a binding arbitration clause, as mentioned in the opinion.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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