Advisor Misconduct
We represent institutional and individual investors around the world in their disputes with financial advisors. Our skilled attorneys have extensive experience representing investors in arbitration and litigation disputes with securities broker-dealers and investment advisory firms.
Over the years we have won ground breaking cases for our investor clients.
In 2009, the firm arbitrated and won the largest arbitration award for retail customers in calendar year 2009. The arbitration award totaled $8.8 million and involved hedge fund losses incurred as a result of the brokerage firm’s failure to perform adequate due diligence.
In 2010, the firm arbitrated and won the largest arbitration award in 2010 for a single client of more than $11.5 million which included $10 million in punitive damages and involved the brokerage firm’s failure to supervise its registered representative.
In 2011, the firm arbitrated and won the largest FINRA award to date in 2011 totaling $54 million. The award included $17 million in punitive damages and involved losses incurred by two individual investors who purchased Mat/ASTA, Citigroup’s leveraged municipal arbitrage fund that failed in February 2008. According to the Wall Street Journal, the arbitration award is the largest ever levied against a major Wall Street brokerage in favor of individual investors.
In 2022, the firm represented multiple athletes taken advantage of by financial advisor Darryl M. Cohen. Athletes involved included Lauren Holiday, Jrue Holiday, Chandler Parsons, and Courtney Lee, and investments of nearly $10 million. An Ernst & Young report in 2021 found that professional athletes reported almost $600 million in fraud-related losses from 2004 to 2019. Athletes and wealthy individuals are not immune to deceptive Financial Advisors, even at the large, big name firms.
The firm has served as lead class action counsel in federal and state court.
A suitability claim is one of the most common customer claims made to a panel of FINRA securities arbitrators. Did you ever wonder why investment professionals ask questions about your investment experience, risk tolerance and more? FINRA’s suitability rule, FINRA Rule 2111, is based on a fundamental FINRA requirement that brokerage firms and their associated persons (sometimes referred to as brokers, financial advisers or financial consultants) deal fairly with their customers. FINRA has prepared this document to educate investors about our suitability rule—and to explain the reasons why firms and their associated persons may ask their customers questions about their financial situation.
We represent investors with these and other types of investment fraud and financial advisor misconduct cases.