Robert J. Girard II

Robert J. Girard II is the Founding and Managing Partner of Girard Bengali, APC, a California law firm dedicated to securities arbitration, securities litigation, and complex investor and employment disputes. For twenty-five years, Mr. Girard has represented investors and financial professionals in high stakes matters involving broker misconduct, unsuitable investment strategies, elder financial abuse, regulatory violations, and wrongful termination and workplace discrimination claims.

Mr. Girard has obtained substantial recoveries for clients through FINRA arbitration awards and negotiated resolutions against many of the country’s largest brokerage firms. His experience includes securing a $1.8 million arbitration award on behalf of an elderly couple who were victims of financial exploitation—more than $1 million of which consisted of punitive damages—as well as a $3.7 million award on behalf of individual brokers in an employment dispute with a FINRA member firm. He has also successfully pursued expungements of defamatory Form U-5 disclosures and negotiated favorable outcomes for financial professionals facing career-threatening allegations.

Before founding Girard Bengali, APC, Mr. Girard practiced at prominent Los Angeles law firms concentrating on securities litigation and arbitration and worked as a staff attorney at a major Wall Street investment bank and brokerage firm. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, and received his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2001. Mr. Girard has also held the FINRA Series 7 and 63 securities licenses.

Mr. Girard is a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association, and the Italian American Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. He has been repeatedly recognized by Super Lawyers as a Southern California Super Lawyer for over a decade and was previously selected to the Rising Stars list, distinctions awarded to a limited percentage of attorneys for professional achievement and peer recognition.

Mr. Girard’s practice is centered on protecting investors, holding financial institutions accountable, and resolving complex financial disputes with precision and strategic focus. His skill and determination have allowed him to build a reputation as a dedicated and fierce representative of his clients’ interests.