Retiree who bought variable annuity in IRA granted recovery of losses, attorneys’ fees and costs (NASD, 2003) BellSouth retiree Gwen Sims was convinced by a financial planner, who conducted a retirement planning class she attended at a local university, to invest her pension assets in a variable annuity. Brian Smiley convinced a panel of NASD arbitrators […]
Larry Roberts v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. and Brian Smith
Former NFL star awarded over $342,000 for investment scam (NASD, 1998) Brian Smiley and Mike Bishop represented Larry Roberts, a retired defensive end from the San Francisco 49ers. Mr. Roberts contended that his broker at Dean Witter misled him into investing $140,000 in a company which allegedly developed, renovated, and sold homes through a HUD […]
Dobison v. Josephthal Lyon & Ross, Inc. and Rodney Sailor
Small business owner awarded $651,201 for losses, $329,664 in attorneys’ fees, and $1,000,000 in punitive damages (NASD, 1997) The firm’s client was a small business owner from Louisiana who alleged that his stockbroker fraudulently induced him to invest in two private companies. After the client lost his entire investment in both companies, Brian Smiley represented […]
Lennon, et al. v. CS First Boston Corporation
Defective fairness opinion favoring merger results in $4,250,000 NYSE award for shareholders (NYSE, 1994) Partners of the firm won an award of approximately $5,000,000 for several doctors who claimed that a major investment banking firm issued a misleading “fairness opinion” in connection with the merger of two medical companies, one of whose shares the doctors […]
Prudential Limited Partnership Disputes
Successful recoveries for hundred of Prudential clients sold mismarketed limited partnerships Attorneys from the firm represented more than 700 investors pursuing limited partnership claims against Prudential and recovered in excess of $40,000,000 on behalf of those investors. Several of the more noteworthy cases were: J. Don Smith v. Prudential Securities (1993): Mike Bishop and co-counsel […]
Leveraged ETFs
These Wall Street products take a simple idea and make it way too risky for ninety-nine out of a hundred investors. The simple idea is the Exchange Traded Fund, or ETF. These are index funds. Unlike mutual funds that trade only at the end of the day, ETFs can be bought and sold throughout the […]
Principal Protected Notes
In “A Short History of Financial Euphoria” the late economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote, “The world of finance hails the invention of the wheel over and over again, often in a slightly more unstable version.” Witness then, yet another Wall Street innovation: the Principal Protected Note – aka, the Structured Note. Structured Notes are “IOUs” to […]
Brian Smiley Quoted in “On Wall Street”
Brian Smiley was quoted in On Wall Street concerning a new FINRA rule that allows parties to have investor cases decided by panels that do not include an arbitrator affiliated with the securities industry. The SEC’s approval of the new process was great news to Brian Smiley, a partner at Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP, […]
SEC Approves FINRA All-Public Panel Option
Brian Smiley quoted in On Wall Street about new FINRA arbitration rule. The move may be hailed by investor groups, but other industry experts are criticizing the Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent approval of a rule change that allows for the option of all-public panels in FINRA arbitrations.
Brian Smiley Appointed to SICA
Brian Smiley was appointed as one of three public members of the Securities Industry Conference on Arbitration (SICA). SICA was established in 1977 with the support of the SEC to help protect the rights of public investors in securities arbitration. SICA provides a forum at which securities arbitration forums, state regulators, the SEC, representatives of investors, and the securities […]
