Laura Sherling Dunning is an of counsel attorney in the Securities and Business Litigation practice group of Levin Papantonio. Ms. Dunning has twice been recognized as an Alabama Super Lawyer Rising Star in Securities Litigation. Ms. Dunning has represented more than 300 victims of securities fraud in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitration and in state and federal court. She recently obtained a $1.95 million award in FINRA arbitration for a sophisticated investor who sustained losses in auction rate securities.
Ms. Dunning is a frequent speaker on issues confronting the securities industry, including FINRA arbitration procedures, arbitrator selection, electronic discovery and how to vacate arbitration awards, and has served as a guest lecturer at the University of Alabama School of Law. She is also a member of Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA), an international organization of attorneys dedicated to the advancement of investors’ rights in the securities industry. Ms. Dunning is licensed to practice in Alabama and has been admitted to the United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and Southern Districts of Alabama.
Ms. Dunning graduated cum laude from Rhodes College with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She received her juris doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2005, where she served as a senior editor on the Alabama Law Review and as a nationally competing member of the Campbell Moot Court Board. Ms. Dunning was a member of the Bench and Bar Legal Honor Society and served as an extern to the Honorable Sharon Lovelace Blackburn of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
In addition to her practice, Ms. Dunning is active in her community, serving on the Executive Committee of the YWCA of Central Alabama’s Junior Board and as an attorney coach in the Civic Education Teen Court Project.