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Melanie S. Cherdack

Counsel
Melanie Cherdack
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MSCherdack@Venable.com
Miami, FL
T +1 305.349.2336

Melanie Cherdack has over 30 years of experience as a securities litigator. She previously served as in-house counsel to a major broker-dealer. Melanie represents individual and institutional investors in complex arbitration matters against brokerage firms and stockbrokers before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). She represents financial advisors before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and FINRA on regulatory matters, as well as in employment arbitration proceedings and intra-industry disputes. She also serves as an arbitrator for FINRA and the National Futures Association (NFA). She is acting associate director at the University of Miami School of Law Investor Rights Clinic.

Melanie has handled cases involving almost every type of securities fraud and investment, including representing receivers in connection with Ponzi schemes to recover money for victims of fraud. She has also represented hundreds of investors outside the mainland United States, including in Puerto Rico, the wider Caribbean, and the Americas generally.

Melanie is a frequent speaker on securities arbitration and recent trends in the financial markets and has authored numerous articles on emerging trends in this area. She has written numerous articles for the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) Securities Arbitration Handbook and is a frequent contributor to and an editor of the PIABA Bar Journal, where she authors a regular section on recent securities arbitration awards. She is actively involved in the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), which presented her with the Outstanding Service Award in 2021.

Melanie has been active in Cancer Link, a charity supporting Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. She received the Dade County Bar Association Pro Bono Award in 1992 and 1994 for her creation and leadership of a downtown small-claims clinic. She also served as a founding board member and counsel to the Heiken Children's Vision Fund, a charity providing eye care to Miami-Dade County schoolchildren that is now operated by the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind.

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January 03, 2023

Venable Officially Enters the Florida Market as Lawyers and Professional Staff from Genovese Joblove & Battista Join the Firm
Venable Officially Enters the Florida Market as Lawyers and Professional Staff from Genovese Joblove & Battista Join the Firm

Credentials
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Education

  • J.D. cum laude University of Florida College of Law 1985
    • Senior editor, University of Florida Law Review
  • B.A. Journalism University of Florida 1982

Bar Admissions

  • Florida
  • New York

Court Admissions

  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

Professional Memberships and Activities

  • Member, Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association
  • Former member, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

Recognition
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  • Super Lawyers
    • Securities Litigation, 2014 – 2015
    • Securities and Corporate Finance, 2014 – 2015
  • South Florida Legal Guide, Top Lawyer
  • The Best Lawyers in America
  • Dade County Bar Association, Pro Bono Award, 1992, 1994
  • Martindale-Hubbell, AV® Preeminent Peer Review Rated

Community
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Volunteerism

  • Member, Cancer Link
  • Founding board member and former counsel, Florida Heiken Children's Vision Fund