Recovery for losses in RMK Bond Fund (FINRA, 2009) Brian Smiley, Mike Bishop, and our co-counsel obtained an award of full compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees, plus costs for two clients. The claim related to Regions Morgan Keegan’s Select Intermediate Bond Fund. In defending the case, Morgan Keegan used two expert witnesses, including a former chair of […]
Soden v. Scottrade, Inc. v. Soden
Successful defense of third-party claim brought by brokerage firm (FINRA, 2008) This was an unusual case in which we represented a widow who was sued by a brokerage firm on a third party claim for indemnification. After a hotly contested hearing that spilled over into court proceedings, the arbitrators entered an award in favor of […]
Gresham v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, et. al.
Retiree awarded losses plus $284,908 attorneys’ fees, costs and $400,000 in punitive damages (NYSE, 2003) Brian Smiley was one of the counsel for a former Proctor & Gamble factory worker who contended that he had been defrauded by employees of the A.G. Edwards’ brokerage firm. A panel of NYSE appointed arbitrators awarded Mr. Gresham actual […]
Sims v. Washington Square Securities, et al.
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 […]
