Michael Bixby

Michael C. Bixby is the founder and managing attorney of Bixby Law PLLC located in Pensacola, Florida. He dedicates his practice primarily on representing retirees and investors in securities and investment fraud litigation. Mr. Bixby has successfully represented over 1,000 investment fraud victims around the country recovering more than $150 million in verdicts and settlements in a variety of forums including arbitrations, and state and federal courts. Mr. Bixby is a member of the national securities bar, the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA) where he serves on the PIABA Board of Directors and has served as Co-Chair of the PIABA Arbitration Committee. In 2021, he was honored to receive the PIABA Outstanding Service Award in recognition for his efforts protecting public investors. He regularly lectures for attorneys, paralegals, and investors around the country on topics ranging from basic introductions to securities litigation to complex securities litigation issues like clearing firm liability, broker theft investigations, and emerging securities litigation technologies. Mr. Bixby has been quoted in various national and local publications such as Reuters, Bloomberg, and Investment News.

Mr. Bixby is a trial lawyer who takes pride in tirelessly fighting to achieve justice for his clients through litigation, mediation, or trials and arbitrations. His favorite part of the practice taking cases to trial or final arbitration hearing. Mr. Bixby’s broad experience in securities and investment fraud cases includes representing clients in claims involving suitability and sale of unsuitable investments, overconcentration, failure to supervise, violation of Regulation Best Interest (“Reg BI”), margin borrowing and leverage claims, breach of fiduciary duty, lack of due diligence, churning and excessive trading, fraud, selling away, theft, sale of unregistered securities, market manipulation, and ERISA 401(k) and retirement plan litigation. He has also represented clients in claims involving bonds, bond funds, stocks, private placements, non-traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), direct participation programs, non-traded BDCs (Business Development Companies), Limited Partnerships (LPs) and Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs), Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) and inverse and leveraged ETFs, options strategies, hedge funds, and insurance products. Mr. Bixby has also represented clients in other complex claims including class actions, products liability claims, whistleblower litigation, interpleader matters, and personal injury claims.

Representative Matters

Mr. Bixby has obtained numerous verdicts, judgments, and arbitration awards in excess of $1 million, including multiple record-setting verdicts.

• $19 million plus full well-managed, fees, and costs FINRA arbitration award for an investor involving Puerto Rico Closed End Funds against UBS Financial Services (the largest such arbitration award against UBS out of several thousand similar Puerto Rico bond fund claims filed),
• $1.16 million plus arbitration award involving non-traded REITs and other similar products against brokerage firm Berthel Fisher and its Control Persons (as of 2022 this was the largest FINRA Arbitration customer verdict ever obtained against that brokerage firm which included attorney’s fees, costs, and punitive damages).
• $3.5+ Million Judgment Against Financial Advisor and Related Company in Kessler v. Ball, Case No. 2015-CA-000813, Escambia County Circuit Court
• $1.1+ Million Judgment on Securities Fraud Claims in Pennington v. Four Kings Club, et al. (Civ. Action No. 2014-CA-004440 – Okaloosa County Circuit Court).
• $363,000 Arbitration Verdict Against UBS Financial Services, Inc. in De Jesus, et al. v. UBS Financial, et al. (FINRA No. 14-02995)
• $470,000 Arbitration Verdict against UBS Financial Services, Inc. in Ramos, et al. v. UBS Financial, et al. (FINRA No. 14-03016)
• $959,000 Judgment against former Financial Advisor in Scheet, et al. v. James Young (Civ. Action No. 2016-CA-000001 – Escambia County Circuit Court)

He obtained his J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law where he was the Champion of the George K. Walker Moot Court Competition and as Captain of Wake Forest’s Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Team, President of the Trial Bar, and as Senior Editor of the Wake Forest Journal of Law & Policy, He obtained his B.A. from Bob Jones University where he won a National Debate Championship.

He lives in Pensacola, Florida with his wife Emily and three children.