Pursuing Justice Podcast Episode 49: In this special crossover episode with PLI’s inSecurities podcast, hear about how pro bono clinics can help vulnerable investors protect their hard-earned retirement funds and nest eggs. Alicia Aiken is joined by Kurt Wolfe and Chris Ekimoff for an informative conversation with law professors, a recent law school grad, and an SEC attorney about their work aiding underserved retirees.
Listen to the related inSecurities episode: https://www.pli.edu/insecurities/episode-126
This podcast provides a behind-the-scenes exploration of pro bono and public interest legal work. These heartening stories are told from both clients’ and lawyers’ perspectives to showcase intimate portraits of lawyers helping those with limited access to justice.
Please note: CLE is not offered for listening to this podcast, and the views and opinions expressed within represent those of the speakers and not necessarily those of PLI.
Episode Promo
FEATURED IN THIS EPISODE
Elizabeth Allhusen
Elizabeth Allhusen is a recent graduate of St. John's University School of Law. She has a passion for securities regulation and investor advocacy. During her time in law school, Elizabeth was a staff member for the American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, a competing member of the Dispute Resolution Society, and an executive board member of the Women's Law Society. Her most valued law school achievement was participating as a Student Attorney in the St. John's Securities Arbitration Clinic, in which she represented underserved, small investors in securities arbitration claims.
Elizabeth received her B.A. from Binghamton University in 2021, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She received her J.D. from St. John's University, School of Law in May 2024, and earned the St. Vincent DePaul Graduation Award for the most outstanding overall contribution to the Securities Arbitration Clinic.
Elizabeth is eager to begin her career in the corporate and securities field, and she aspires to combine her interest in legislative and regulatory efforts with client-centered advocacy.
Nicole G. Iannarone
Nicole G. Iannarone is an Associate Professor at the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law. Professor Iannarone studies consumer disputes with financial professionals, exploring the intersection between professional regulation, dispute resolution systems, transparency, and technology. She teaches courses in Business Organizations, Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, Professional Responsibility, Securities Arbitration, and Securities Regulation.
Professor Iannarone’s recent work examines retail investor experiences in investor versus stockbroker arbitration, focusing on barriers regular investors face in mandatory arbitration and recommending interventions to increase access to justice. Her articles have appeared or are forthcoming in the Minnesota Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law, Washington Law Review, Cardozo Law Review, Chicago-Kent Law Review, Tennessee Journal of Business Law, and Stetson Law Review.
Professor Iannarone is the immediate past Chair of the FINRA National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC) and as a public member of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Board of Standards Public Policy Council. She is also Chair-Elect of the AALS Securities Regulation Section and is a past Chair of the AALS Section on Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation.
Prior to joining the faculty at Drexel Kline Law, Professor Iannarone taught at Georgia State University College of Law, Mercer Law School, and Vanderbilt Law School. At Georgia State Law, she founded the Investor Advocacy Clinic which provided free legal services to retail investors who had been harmed by stockbroker misconduct. Before entering academia, Professor Iannarone was a partner and deputy general counsel of litigation boutique Bondurant, Mixson & Elmore where she represented plaintiffs and defendants in business torts and professional negligence matters. She is a past president of the Atlanta Bar Association and the Atlanta Council of Younger Lawyers and is a former Chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Professionalism Committee and the Atlanta Bar Association Reputation and Public Trust Committee.
Professor Iannarone received her JD from Yale Law School where she served on the Yale Journal on Regulation, and graduated summa cum laude and with high honors in liberal studies from Brenau Women’s College.
Christine Lazaro
Christine Lazaro is a Professor of Clinical Legal Education, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, and co-Director of the Law School's Securities Arbitration Clinic at St. John’s University School of Law. She came to St. John's in 2007 as the Clinic's Supervising Attorney. She is also a faculty advisor for the Corporate and Securities Law Society and the Moot Court Honor Society. Professor Lazaro holds a B.A. from New York University and a J.D. from Fordham Law School.
After graduating from law school and prior to joining St. John’s, she was an associate at Davidson & Grannum, LLP, representing broker-dealers and individual brokers in disputes with clients in both arbitration and mediation, and handling employment law cases and debt collection cases. She also advised broker-dealers regarding investment contracts they had with various municipalities and government entities. Professor Lazaro is also Of Counsel to the Law Offices of Brent A. Burns, LLC, where she consults on securities arbitration and regulatory matters.
Professor Lazaro is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States District Courts for the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, and the District of New Jersey and the New York and New Jersey State Bars. She is a member of the New York State and the American Bar Associations. Professor Lazaro is a past President of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA). Professor Lazaro serves on the SEC Investor Advisory Committee, the FINRA Investor Issues Advisory Committee, and the CFP Board’s Standards Resource Commission. She is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Securities Arbitration Alert, and occasionally contributes to its newsletter.
Professor Lazaro speaks and writes regularly on the standards of conduct governing brokerage firms and investment advisers.
Qudsia Shafiq
Qudsia Shafiq is an Attorney-Adviser in the SEC’s Division of Examinations in the Atlanta Regional Office, focusing on examinations of investment advisers and investment companies.
Before joining the SEC, Qudsia served as Associate General Counsel at Edward Jones, where she provided legal guidance to business and compliance stakeholders regarding the firm’s investment advisory programs, including enhancements to advisory programs, implementation of new SEC rules and required ADV filings. Prior to her role in-house, Qudsia began her career in private practice where she advised state- and SEC-registered investment advisers on a variety of regulatory and compliance issues relating to the Investment Advisers Act, state securities laws and FINRA rules and regulations. Qudsia initially discovered her passion for securities law and the importance of retail investor protection as a student intern at Georgia State University College of Law’s Investor Advocacy Clinic.
Qudsia received her B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and her J.D. from Georgia State University College of Law.
