Joseph C. Peiffer practices in the Firm's litigation section, primarily in the areas of securities arbitration and commercial litigation.
Mr. Peiffer has represented hundreds of individual retirees against their brokers in FINRA arbitration. The highlights of this practice include representing 32 Exxon retirees in a 90-day FINRA arbitration against Securities America that resulted in a $22 million verdict -- one of the largest ever awarded by a FINRA arbitration panel. He has also represented hundreds of Xerox and Kodak retirees against their broker resulting from the broker’s fraudulent advice to retire and subsequent unsuitable investments.
He currently represents clients against British Petroleum arising from the oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. He was recently part of the legal team that filed a temporary restraining order to stop BP from paying dividends to its shareholders before it could show that it could pay to clean up the Gulf.
Also, he currently represents the Louisiana Firefighters Retirement Fund in their case against Northern Trust concerning securities lending. Additionally, he represents Louisiana Citizens Insurance Company and several West Virginia hospitals in cases against their investment banks arising out of their issuance of auction rate securities. He also is on the plaintiffs’ steering committee in a nationwide antitrust class action involving the illegal tying of cable set-top boxes to the provision of premium cable services.
He has been quoted by USA Today, Wall Street Journal, the Associated Press,New York Times, New York Daily News, the Los Angeles Times, Business Week,Investment News, and many other publications. Mr. Peiffer has also appeared on CNN. He was named as one of the fifty Leaders in Law by New Orleans City Business Magazine and a 2013 Rising Star by the Class Action Administration organization.
Joe Peiffer is licensed to practice law in Louisiana.
Mr. Peiffer graduated from Tulane School of Law, cum laude, in 1999. While at Tulane, he served on the Tulane Law Review and was involved with the Tulane Legal Assistance Program. Prior to attending Tulane, he graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1996 with a major in communications. While at Bowling Green, he worked as the General Manager of the campus radio station and City Editor of the daily newspaper.
Mr. Peiffer is one of three Louisiana lawyers ranked by Chambers USA for securities litigation.
Mr. Peiffer has also successfully represented criminal defendants on a pro bono basis.
He has also taught and lectured extensively. He is currently co-authoring a book on Litigating Business Torts for West, a Thomson Reuters Business. He co-created and taught a class entitled Storytelling and Advocacy at Loyola Law School. Also, at Loyola Law School, he has taught a course entitled "The Basics of Arbitration" and he also serves as an adjunct professor teaching Trial Advocacy. He has guest lectured at Tulane Law School in its Securities Regulations class and Syracuse Law School on securities arbitration. He has spoken at many national conventions on a variety of topics including prosecuting large, multi-client claims, broker’s deficient advice to retire and FINRA arbitration.
He is a member of the American Association for Justice where he currently serves as Chairman for the Business Torts section. He is a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association where he has served on the amicus committee and currently serves as Executive Vice President/President-Elect.