EXPERIENCE MATTERS

The Investor Defender team is a practice group at Samuels Yoelin Kantor LLP. We represent individuals and institutional investors nationwide. Choosing an attorney may be the most important decision you make in the investment recovery process. We invite you to review our credentials and to contact our offices to speak with an experienced securities attorney today.

Meet Our Top Securities Litigator

Darlene Pasieczny

Attorney

CONTACT US TODAY

Phone: 800.647.8130

Representing Clients Nationwide. Call today to speak with a member of the Investor Defender Team. Initial consultations are complimentary and confidential.

Darlene Pasieczny (“Pah-shetch-nee”) leads the Investor Defenders team, with support from our SYK litigators and paralegal staff.

Her wide range of experience and knowledge in the field of securities litigation, elder financial abuse, and FINRA arbitration gives her the edge to help her clients recover investment losses (Watch Video). Based in Portland, Oregon, Darlene is licensed in Oregon and Washington but her FINRA arbitration practice enables her to represent investors nationwide.

Darlene also represents parties in other financial and fiduciary litigation as well as related appellate cases.  These include representing trustees, beneficiaries, and other interested parties in trust and estate disputes such as will contests, undue influence, and nonjudicial amendments to trust terms.  Other type of cases include shareholder rights cases, and elder financial abuse. Sometimes these matter involve financial professionals, and sometimes they unfortunately involve friends, family, trusted caretakers, or other professionals like CPAs and accountants.

Her Investor Defender practice group focuses on investor protection and investment loss recovery for individuals, fiduciaries, groups of investors in court and FINRA arbitration. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is the self-regulatory organization that regulates and licenses securities brokerage firms and individual brokers across the country. FINRA arbitration is the main forum in the securities industry for resolution of legal disputes between investors and these industry professionals.

FINRA arbitration is a specialized forum with its own procedural rules – and Darlene knows how to navigate them.

Darlene regularly works with state and federal securities regulators to improve the procedural rules of this forum and advocating for fairness in the securities industry.  Darlene also serves as a FINRA arbitrator.

In addition, Darlene’s years of service work with the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA) gives her first-hand knowledge of upcoming FINRA rule changes. PIABA is an international bar association whose members represent investors in disputes with the securities industry. Darlene was awarded the 2017 Outstanding Service Award from PIABA for her dedicated work. She was elected to the PIABA Board of Directors in October, 2017.

She is an advocate for fairness and transparency in the securities industry.

In her law practice, Darlene brings a particular sensitivity to working with the all-too often targets of securities fraud — retirees and women investors from every level of investment experience. Pasieczny (pronounced “Pah-shetch-nee”) is a Polish surname. Her family instilled in her a strong emphasis on education, hard work, and justice for the underrepresented. Darlene is a Top Rated Securities Litigation Attorney by Oregon Super Lawyers, and was selected to the Rising Stars list for 2021.

Select Speaking Engagements & Publications


  • *Speaker, “Financial Elder Abuse – State Civil Claims and Overview of a Financial Elder Abuse Case,” PIABA Mid-Year Meeting, April 2022
  • *Speaker, “The Whole Picture: Maximizing Damages in Securities Cases” PIABA Annual Meeting, Amelia Island, FL, October 2021
  • *Speaker, “Liability Under the Oregon Securities Law: Landscapes and Minefields,” Multnomah Bar Association, Advising Oregon Businesses Fall Series, Portland, OR, October 2020
  • *Author, “States Adopting NASAA’s Model Act to Protect Vulnerable Adults from Financial Exploitation (Mandatory and Permissive Conduct by Financial Advisors),” PIABA Bar Journal, Vol. 26, No. 2 (2019)
  • * Moderator, “Two Case Studies in Securities Litigation: Aequitas SEC Receivership (OR) and Federal Home Loan v. Credit Suisse (WA),” 40th Annual Northwest Securities Institute, Seattle, WA, March 2020
  • * Moderator, “RIA and Hybrid RIA/BD Regulation: Where Were We, and Where Are We Going?” PIABA Securities Law Seminar, Austin, TX, October 2019
  • * Speaker, “FINRA Expungement Proceedings: Party Perspectives, Ethics and Recent Regulatory Developments,” PIABA Mid-Year Meeting, Washington, D.C., April 2019
  • * Speaker, “Recent Tools to Combat Financial Elder Abuse: Mandatory and Permissive Conduct Under FINRA Rules and Oregon Law for Securities Professionals,” Oregon State Bar Securities Regulation Section, Portland, OR, February 2019
  • * Author, “New Tools Help Financial Professionals Prevent Elder Abuse”, Oregon State Bar Elder Law Newsletter, vol. 22, no. 1, January 2019
  • * Moderator, “Hybrid Advisers: Regulation and Claims Regarding Dual-Registered Brokers and RIAs,” PIABA Securities Law Seminar, Bonita Springs, FL, October 2018
  • * Speaker, “Lunching with Fiduciary Litigators: Red Flags and Strategies for Oregon and Washington,” SYK Seminar Series, Portland, OR, July 2018
  • * Speaker, “Financial Elder Abuse, FINRA & State Legislation: What Securities Professionals, Financial Institutions, and Trust Companies Need to Know,” Portland, OR, July 2018
  • * Moderator, “The Speeding Train of Cryptocurrency Investments, Supervision, and Securities Regulation,” PIABA Mid-Year CLE, Los Angeles, CA, May, 2018
  • * Guest Lecturer, Investor Protection Clinic, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, April 2018
  • * Speaker, “The Nuts and Bolts of SEC Whistle-blower Claims – and how the Recent Digital Realty case Changed the Landscape,” Oregon State Bar Securities Regulation Section, Portland, OR, March 2018
  • * Speaker, “Senate Bill 95: Safeguarding Seniors,” FPA of Oregon & SW Washington, Portland, OR, February 2018
  • * Guest Lecturer, St. John’s University School of Law, Securities Arbitration Clinic, Queens, NY, February 2018
  • * Moderator, “Cybersecurity: Regulation and Enforcement in the Battle of Attacks on Investors and Firm Information,” PIABA Securities Law Seminar, Colorado Springs, CO, October 2017
  • * Panelist, “FINRA Securities Dispute Resolution – What Lies Beyond the Task Force?” 19th Annual ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference, San Francisco, CA, 2017
  • * Speaker, “War & PEAC: Negotiating with the Tech Industry over Fiduciary Access to Digital Property,” SW Washington Estate Planning Council, Vancouver, WA, 2016
  • * Speaker, “Red Flags in Your Incoming Client’s Portfolio? What You Should Know About Securities Claims for Recovering Investment Losses,” Financial Planning Association of Oregon and SW Washington, Portland, OR, 2016
  • * Moderator, “Blowing the Whistle Under Dodd-Frank & SOX: The SEC’s and CFTC’s Whistle-blower Program,” PIABA Securities Law Seminar, San Diego, CA, 2016
  • * Moderator, “Clearing Firm Liability,” PIABA Securities Law Seminar, Ponte Verda Beach, FL, 2015
  • * Panelist, “Latest Developments in FINRA Securities Arbitration,” 17th Annual ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Spring Conference, Seattle, WA, 2015
  • * Speaker, “Recent Developments at FINRA“, 33rd Annual Northwest Securities Institute, Portland, OR, 2013

Education

Lewis & Clark Law School, J.D.
Magna cum laude

Columbia University, M.A.
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies

Reed College, B.A.
Phi Beta Kappa 

 

Awards, Honors, Service

FINRA’s National Arbitration & Mediation Committee (NAMC), Public Member, June 2021 – Present
Oregon Rising Stars List, 2021
Oregon State Bar, Securities Regulation Section
Chair (2021); Executive Committee, 2020-Present
Oregon State Bar, Appellate Practice Section
Executive Committee, 2022
PIABA Board of Directors, 2017 – Present
Reed College Board of Trustees
Alumni Trustee, 2018 – Present
PIABA, Treasurer, 2019 – 2021
PIABA Outstanding Service Award, 2017
PIABA SRO Committee, member 2012 – Present
Co-chair 2015 – 2017
PIABA Securities Law Seminar Committee, 2015 – 2021
Reed College Alumni Board, At-Large Member, 2015 – 2018
Chair of Reed Career Alliance (RCA) Committee, 2016 – 2017
Graduated magna cum laude, Lewis & Clark Law School
Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies
Phi Beta Kappa (Beta of Oregon), Reed College

 

Affiliations & Associations

Oregon State Bar
Washington State Bar
U.S. District Court, District of Oregon
Gus J. Solomon American Inn of Court
Multnomah Bar Association
Oregon Women Lawyers (OWLS), Portland Chapter
Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA)

 

Reviews

“I highly recommend Darlene Pasieczny. She is a lawyer who is personable, knowledgeable, and responsive. Darlene has the unique ability to provide very clear explanations of the legal process every step of the way. From the first time I spoke with her about my lawsuit, to the successful conclusion, Darlene was always the support I needed.”

– Jacki, Dispute with Financial Advisor over Promissory Note Investment

Our Securities Practice Areas Include:

FINRA Securities Arbitration

Investment Loss Recovery

Ponzi Clawback

Financial Advisor

Fiduciary Litigation

Whistleblower Claims

Elder Financial Abuse

Accessibility