An investment adviser's legal malpractice claims against New Jersey firm Bressler, Amery & Ross are precluded by prior arbitration against his employer before federal regulators, a state appeals court has ruled.

The plaintiff “knew or should have known the damages he sought to litigate and have decided at the arbitration proceeding could be precluded in subsequent litigation,” and he “did have an adequate opportunity to fully adjudicate his entitlement to the subject damages during the arbitration proceeding,” the Appellate Division said Tuesday in Petrone v. Sabo.

According to the decision, the dispute goes back some 12 years, to when plaintiff Joseph Petrone was a broker-dealer for the financial services firm Investacorp Inc.