FINRA arbitration panel requires counsel to submit COVID-19 test result.

FINRA currently requires proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the start of live hearings. However, in this matter, a week before the final arbitration hearing, claimant’s counsel filed a motion to postpone the hearing based upon claimant’s counsel feeling ill. A day later, the FINRA panel denied the claimant’s motion to postpone and ordered claimant’s counsel to provide FINRA Dispute Resolution Services with a COVID-19 test result within 72 hours of the hearing. The order stated that if the test was positive, the hearing would be be postponed, but if the test was negative, the hearing would take place as scheduled. Claimant’s counsel provided a negative test result a few days later, and the case proceeded to regularly scheduled final hearing dates. 

As in-person hearings resume while coronavirus continues to have worldwide impact, litigants should be cognizant of the potential requirements for last-minute postponement requests. 
 

^{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2022 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Copyright © 2022 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, all rights reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm.}