Meet Securities Lawyer, Jonathan Kurta
Jonathan Kurta is a Founding Partner of Kurta Law, a national law firm representing investors who have suffered financial losses as a result of stockbroker fraud. Mr. Kurta has extensive experience litigating investor disputes before Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration panels. He has handled hundreds of cases for clients all over the U.S. and overseas. These cases often involve stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, private placements, real estate investment trusts (REITS), structured products, and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Before founding Kurta Law, Jonathan Kurta worked at a large national law firm where he worked on high-profile disputes. Mr. Kurta spent his early career representing large and medium-sized brokerage firms throughout the country—an experience that makes him particularly effective when he represents investors who have been defrauded by those very same companies.
Mr. Kurta understands that for most investors, their investment portfolios represent years of hard work and sacrifice. Kurta Law works with every type of investor—empty-nesters, experienced investors, farmers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. He started his law firm to protect hardworking individuals from fraudulent brokers and greedy brokerage firms.
Jonathan Kurta has devoted himself to improving the securities industry for investors. To support this mission, he became a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA). PIABA promotes investor education and the enforcement of securities industry rules and regulations. Throughout his career, Mr. Kurta has lectured on various issues involving securities arbitration and violations of securities laws. He is an Associate Professor at New York Law School where he teaches a class on securities litigation. When he is not fighting to recover money that has fallen into the wrong hands, Mr. Kurta enjoys spending time with his wife and three children at home on Long Island. Mr. Kurta is, unfortunately, an avid Jets fan.
Media Mentions
- “Same Annuity, Same Broker, Same Arbitrator = Another Client Victor,” AdvisorHub, April 21, 2017
- “Broker Pal of Bow Wow Gets Bitten by CFP Board,” Financial Planning, April 18, 2016
- “Ex-advisor Racks up $16M in Client Complaints,” On Wall Street, March 11, 2015
- “After 8 Years, Morgan Stanley Claws Back $380K From Ex-Employee,” On Wall Street, March 26, 2015
- “How to Win at Mediation” Wall Street Journal, March 9, 2015
- “Broker Ordered to Pay More than $1 Million in Churning Case” Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2014
- “Ex-Sterne Agee Broker Faces Expulsion over $6 Million Hedge Fund” Investment News, July 11, 2014
Significant Representation
- Won a $1 million FINRA arbitration award on behalf of a New Mexico resident who alleged that his account was churned by his brokerage firm. The award also included interest and attorneys’ fees under the New Mexico Securities Act. A copy of the award can be accessed here.
- Successful in negotiating settlements of over $5 million on behalf of groups of investors in syndicated tenant-in-common investments. The investors were situated in various parts of the country and the cases involved multiple brokerage firms.
- Won a FINRA arbitration award for over $523,000 on behalf of a Tampa, Florida based trust. The case involved the purchase of a non-traded real estate investment. A copy of the award can be accessed here.
- Secured a $3 million settlement for a group of California clients. The case involved the unsuitable holding of “daily” ETFs for periods of longer than one day.
- Won a FINRA arbitration award for $1,073,440 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The case involved the misrepresentation of a variable annuity and the award included $536,720 in punitive damages. A copy of the award can be accessed here.
- Won a FINRA arbitration award for $130,000 in Denver, Colorado. The case involved the misrepresentation of a variable annuity. A copy of the award can be accessed here.
- Negotiated a seven-figure settlement on behalf of a Denver, Colorado family that was invested in speculative and illiquid real estate securities.
- Won a FINRA arbitration on behalf of a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania small business owner who alleged churning in his brokerage account. A copy of the award can be accessed here.
- Successfully negotiated settlements on behalf of clients in Hawaii, California and Texas whose financial advisors made unauthorized purchases of municipal bonds issued by Puerto Rico.
- Won over $97,000 on behalf of a New Jersey resident who alleged account losses as a result of unsuitable investment recommendations. A copy of the award can be accessed here.
- Negotiated a settlement of over $500,000 on behalf of a New York client based on allegations of selling away, overconcentration and unsuitability.
- Settled FINRA arbitration claim for $475,000 on behalf of a group of investors related to private placements in start-up venture capital companies. The clients alleged that the brokerage firm misrepresented the investments and failed to conduct even basic due diligence on the companies before recommending the investments to clients.
- Successful in negotiating a six-figure FINRA settlement on behalf of a North Carolina family. The case involved allegations that the brokerage firm failed to conduct due diligence on the private investments that were sold to the family over a ten-year time period.
- Secured large FINRA settlement for an elderly client from Washington in arbitration seeking over $2.5 million in damages against national broker-dealer for allegations of front-running, churning, fraud, cross-trading with other customer accounts, and failure to supervise in connection with the sale of multiple penny stocks.
- Successfully negotiated a settlement on behalf of a 93-year-old widow from Indiana against a national broker-dealer in connection with unsuitable investments. The case involved the over-concentration of her portfolio in highly speculative securities.
- Negotiated a six-figure settlement on behalf of elderly Delaware residents. The case involved mutual fund switching and excessive “mark-ups” of securities.
- Obtained a six-figure settlement on behalf of an elderly client from Alaska. The case involved microcap stocks.
- Secured settlements for European clients whose securities accounts were churned by a New York-based broker-dealer.