Krause Kalfayan Benink & Slavens, LLP

 

Mr. Slavens has aggressively represented investors and consumers in multimillion dollar class actions and individual cases for nearly a decade. Through his creative litigation and trial tactics, Mr. Slavens has participated in the recovery of in excess of $20 million for the benefit of his clients and class members.

Mr. Slavens has extensive experience in arbitrating cases before FINRA arbitration panels, and litigating individual and class actions in federal and state court. Some of Mr. Slavens’ recent successes, including recovering more than $1.5 million dollars for a group of investors in promissory notes sold by a national broker dealer. The case started as a class action, and after class certification had been denied, Mr. Slavens orchestrated a joint NASD arbitration, filing on behalf of more than fifteen investors. He managed to recover nearly 100% of his clients’ losses.

In another case, Mr. Slavens negotiated a multimillion dollar settlement on behalf of nearly twenty (20) investors relating to their claims against a broker-dealer that participated in the sale of hedge fund shares that turned out to be one of the largest Ponzi schemes in recent memory, totaling more than $400 million. Mr. Slavens managed to recover a significant portion of his clients’ losses without ever having to file a case.

Earlier in his career, his played a key role in a class action against two of the largest law firms in the country, recovering more than $6 million on behalf of investors. He and partner James Krause, successfully achieved class certification and resolved the case favorably for the class before trial.

Over the years, Mr. Slavens has been invited to speak about investor rights and the FINRA arbitration process. For example, he was invited to USD School of Law to make a presentation to the Securities Law class on the procedures for filing a FINRA arbitration, managing the case from start to finish, and developing themes and a winning strategy.

Mr. Slavens is also active in the legal community and has devoted substantial time to community programs such as the Volunteer Lawyers Program of San Diego, where he participated as a panelist on issues relating to the brokerage industry and corporate scandals; and has provided substantial pro bono services to local non-profit organizations. He has written articles on whistle-blower standing under the RICO statutes and third-party liability for securities fraud titled “They Heard It Through The Grapevine” published in Trial Bar News.
Mr. Slavens is an active member of the San Diego County Bar Association, the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, the San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program, and the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA). PIABA is a bar association consisting of lawyers who represent investors in securities arbitration, broker-dealer complaints, brokerage industry arbitration, stockbroker problems and complaints.

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Slavens obtained his degree in Corporate Finance from San Diego State University in 1994 and graduated with honors (magna cum laude) from California Western School of Law in 2001.

Before he was a lawyer, Mr. Slavens was a licensed stockbroker for a number of years. He believes that his experience as a stockbroker gives him a unique perspective of securities and investor cases that many lawyers don’t have. Because he knows the ins and outs of the business, he has the ability to recognize issues other lawyers can’t.

During law school, he successfully became a member of the California Western School of Law, Law Review. After graduating from law school, Mr. Slavens joined Krause & Kalfayan as an associate attorney and has put his securities experience to use in securities litigation, including arbitration matters with the National Association of Securities Dealers, now FINRA. In 2005, he became a partner with the firm which was renamed Krause Kalfayan Benink & Slavens, LLP.