Stock Attorneys Blog

Today Scott Silver, Managing Partner of Blum & Silver, LLP, served on a panel of seasoned securities attorneys, presenting before members and guests of the Securities Committee of the South Palm Beach Bar Association in Boca Raton. Mr. Silver spoke on the topic of “The Secrets of Successfully Arbitrating a FINRA case from the Masters.” Mediator Jeffrey Grubman moderated the presentation, and Mr. Silver’s co-panelists were Richard Martens, Wes Holsten, and Scott Link.

Mr. Silver discussed, amongst other issues, his support for the all public FINRA arbitration panel. Mr. Silver commented afterwards that he was honored to speak to a large group of respected collegues and friends.

Blum & Silver, LLP is a nationally-recognized securities law firm dedicated to representing investors worldwide for their claims for losses due to stockbroker misconduct and brokerage firm negligence involving stocks, bonds, commodities and other products. Contact us for a free consultation.

Blum & Silver, LLP attorneys Scott Silver and Janine Garlitz co-authored an article “SEC Whistleblower Incentives under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act.” Their article was published this month in PIABA Bar Journal, a national publication focusing on the practice of securities arbitration. For a copy of the article, click here.

Mr. Silver and Ms. Garlitz’s article provides the history of whistleblowers, the controversy surrounding the SEC’s whistleblower legislation, and protections afforded to whistleblowers under the act. The article also discusses the detailed requirements for meeting the SEC whistleblower rules requirements and the exacting procedures for filing a claim with the SEC, including ways for whistleblowers to report anonymously to the SEC and ways to potentially maximize their awards.

The SEC implemented its whistleblower legislation in August 2011, enabling the SEC to pay substantial awards to eligible whistleblowers who voluntarily provide the SEC original information about a violation of the federal securities laws that leads to the successful enforcement or related action resulting in monetary sanctions exceeding $1 million. Pursuant to the conditions of the regulations, which are described in detail in Mr. Silver and Ms. Garlitz’s article, whistleblowers are entitled to up to 30% of the SEC's monetary recovery in successful actions.

Continue reading "Blum & Silver, LLP Attorneys Published in National Law Journal on the SEC Whistleblower Incentives under Dodd-Frank" »

Blum & Silver, LLP has filed a class action lawsuit against Regions Bank (“Regions”), a banking subsidiary of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF). The securities class action filed in the United States Southern District of Florida alleges claims for violation of the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act. The basis for the lawsuit is that Regions personally participated or aided in the sale of securities by dealers that were not registered with the State of Florida.

Specifically, U.S. Pension Trust Corp. ("USPTC") and U.S. College Trust Corp. ("USCTC") (collectively, "USPT") sold securities from offices located in the State of Florida without registering as a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The class is defined as all persons and entities who contributed money to the investment plans sold by USPT between September 21, 2006 and August 31, 2009, inclusive.

A U.S. District Judge in the Southern District of Florida already has ruled that USPT violated federal law by failing to register as a broker-dealer, and another federal court judge entered a final judgment against Regions for aiding and abetting USPT's violations of federal registration laws. Regions agreed to pay a $1 million penalty to settle those charges.

USPT also failed to register as a dealer with the State of Florida, which the class action lawsuit alleges USPT was required to do pursuant to the Florida Securities and Investor Protection Act. The class action lawsuit seeks to hold Regions liable under Florida law for personally participating or aiding in USPT's sales of securities when USPT was not registered as a dealer with the State of Florida.

Continue reading "Blum & Silver, LLP Files Securities Class Action Against Regions Bank Alleging Regions Aided and Abetted the Sale of Securities by an Unregistered Dealer" »

Blum & Silver, LLP is pursuing claims against National Financial Services, LLC (“NFS”) for investors who lost money investing over $100 million in more than 20 unregistered debt offerings sold by McGinn, Smith & Co., Inc., (“McGinn Smith”) and other entities under its ownership or control. McGinn Smith was a New York based securities broker-dealer with its principal place of business in Albany, NY. The firm also had many clients in Pennsylvania.

Chief among the investments sold by McGinn Smith were notes issued by four limited liability companies: First Independent Income Notes, LLC., First Equity Income Notes, LLC, First Albany Income Notes, LLC., and Third Albany Income Notes, LLC ( collectively, “Income Notes”). Each of these companies was wholly-owned by an extension of McGinn Smith.

McGinn Smith began using NFS, a Fidelity company, as its clearing firm in or about 2005. Many McGinn Smith clients were required to maintain an account with NFS which provided significant clearing and back office operations for McGinn Smith.

The claims allege, in part, that NFS was negligent in its pricing of the notes and breached duties it owed to the investors in negligently clearing for McGinn Smith.

In April 2010, both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) filed lawsuits against McGinn Smith and its principals, alleging that from 2003 through April 2010, McGinn Smith committed an ongoing fraud against over 900 investors.

Continue reading "Blum & Silver, LLP Files Claims on Behalf of McGinn Smith Investors Against National Financial Services, LLC" »

The Law Offices of Blum & Silver, LLP is currently investigating the LaeRoc Funds, including the Laeroc 2002 Income Fund LP, Laeroc 2004-2005 Income Fund LP, Laeroc 2005-2006 Income Fund LP, Laeroc Edge Fund LP and Laeroc Income Fund 007, LP.

The Laeroc funds are real estate private placements (under Regulation D) that were sold by brokerage firms like LPL Financial LLC and Commonwealth Financial Network. According to its website, Laeroc Funds is a real estate investment firm managing over $650 million in assets in the last 23 years and has created 14 funds. The Company focuses on income producing properties in the western US with a concentration in southern California.

Many of the Laeroc funds have suffered substantial declines in value. Laeroc 2002 Income Fund, L.P. recently announced the dissolution of the fund to its investors. While the Laeroc 2005-2006 Income Fund LP is currently attempting to raise another $11 million to $14.5 million to pay off at least $49 million of debt. This fund recently issued a cash call to investors, asking investors to contribute additional money for preferred partnership status.

Continue reading "Blum & Silver, LLP Announces its Investigation of the Laeroc Funds" »

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The firm regularly represents victims of investment fraud and other malfeasance
in arbitration and state or federal court.

The firm is very proud of our awards against many large brokerage firms and numerous
other firms as well. The awards and other information about our firm can be viewed at stockattorneys.com