Securities Law

Bear Stearns GC Sold Stock Options Before They Plummeted in Value

Bear Stearns general counsel Michael Solender was one of six corporate insiders who sold stock options before they dropped below $3 a share, according to a published report. Solender sold stock options for $89 a share, earning $186,000, three months before the big drop in share price, the American Lawyer…

Mar 26, 2008 11:33 AM CDT

Weiss Plea Deal Has Critics Panning ‘Megamillionaire’ Lawyers

The announcement that securities class-action titan Melvyn Weiss will plead guilty to racketeering likely has some longtime critics feeling smug. Weiss pioneered the kind of lawsuits that held corporate wrongdoers accountable to shareholders with a hard-charging litigation style and “elbows-out tactics,” in the words of the Los Angeles Times. Weiss…

Mar 21, 2008 12:45 PM CDT

Melvyn Weiss to Plead Guilty; His Ex-Firm Changes Its Name

Updated: Pioneering securities class-action lawyer Melvyn Weiss has agreed to pay $10 million in fines and penalties and to serve up to 33 months in prison to resolve charges that he paid kickbacks to lead plaintiffs. Weiss’ lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, announced details of the agreement today in a press release.…

Mar 20, 2008 10:39 AM CDT

Bear Stearns Rescue Shows Legislators Have Work to Do

In the short run, the story of the successfully averted almost-collapse of the nation’s fifth-largest investment bank is a tale of triumph over near-disaster. But, in the long run, it is likely to be seen as a rallying cry for increased regulation of the reckless mortgage lending that caused the…

Mar 18, 2008 9:42 PM CDT

Hot Topic Post-Bear Stearns: Investment Safety Rules

After seeing the value of one of the nation’s investment banking giants plummet disastrously virtually overnight this week, investors are now wondering about the safety of assets held in brokerage accounts. But there is little likelihood that their assets are at risk, at least as far as accounts that don’t…

Mar 18, 2008 9:12 PM CDT

Skilling Appeal Argues Secret FBI ‘Sledgehammer’ Notes Require Reversal

Lawyers for former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling contend recently released FBI notes show that star prosecution witness Andrew Fastow gave testimony sometimes at odds with prior interviews he gave to federal agents. In a 71-page filing made public Friday, lawyers for Skilling say his 2006 securities fraud conviction should be…

Mar 18, 2008 2:50 PM CDT

Ex-Qwest CEO Gets New Trial and New Judge

U.S. District Judge Edward Nottingham, in the news for alleged links to a prostitution business, has been bounced from an expected retrial of the former CEO of Qwest Communications. The Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday in an opinion with some sarcastic observations that former CEO Joseph…

Mar 18, 2008 11:40 AM CDT

Lawyers’ Phones Ringing After 90% Plummet in Bear Stearns Value

After a stunning loss in the value of Bear Stearns stock that cost employees and investors big bucks over the weekend and led to widespread turmoil in stock markets today, the financial outlook is at least a bit brighter for two groups: elite corporate counsel and, in all likelihood, plaintiffs…

Mar 17, 2008 6:13 PM CDT

Rogue Trader in $7B SocGen Case Says Boss Watched

Jerome Kerviel says he used his manager’s computer at least one occasion as he racked up more than $7 billion in losses for French bank Société Générale. And, as he traded, he contends, his boss and colleagues sometimes watched, according to the London Times and Agence France-Presse. Kerviel also told…

Mar 17, 2008 4:36 PM CDT

$11.2M Deal Covers Error in Enron Settlement Payout

Enron employees who lost their retirement cash when the company collapsed were disappointed a second time when it was revealed that a company distributing a $218 million settlement payout got the first distribution wrong. Additional payouts were left in limbo as lawyers argued who should be held responsible. Now the…

Mar 14, 2008 3:47 PM CDT

Securities Suit Filed Against SocGen Cites ‘Culture of Risk’

A securities suit has been filed against Société Générale over the French bank’s disclosures about its subprime mortgage holdings and the internal controls that failed to prevent a reported loss of more than $7 billion attributed to a single rogue trader. Cohen Milstein Hausfeld & Toll says it has sued…

Mar 12, 2008 6:04 PM CDT

Milberg Weiss No. 1 for Securities Settlements

Apparently undaunted by legal troubles, lawyers at Milberg Weiss managed to secure $3.8 billion in settlements for securities plaintiffs last year, making it the top-ranked class-action law firm. Shareholder advisory firm RiskMetrics Group ranked Milberg Weiss first and Grant & Eisenhofer second, Reuters reports. Milberg Weiss and its name partner…

Mar 12, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

Lawyers Await New Century Examiner’s Report

A bankruptcy examiner’s report about problems at subprime lender New Century Financial could be unsealed as early as this week. The report is likely to address advice by auditor KPMG, which was involved in accounting changes that forced New Century to restate earnings in February, the Recorder reports. The audit…

Mar 10, 2008 1:40 PM CDT

Client Sues McGuireWoods re Ex-Partner’s Claimed $17M Trading Scheme

A former client has sued McGuireWoods for malpractice over claimed illegal trading of the client’s stock by a law firm partner acting as issuer’s counsel. He allegedly made more than $17 million from selling stock of the plaintiff, Alternative Energy Sources Inc., and at least six other ethanol companies, but…

Mar 5, 2008 9:00 PM CST

Two Coughlin Stoia Lawyers Linked to Contingency-Paid Witness

Two securities class action lawyers who jumped to Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins have been linked to an expert witness who pleaded guilty last week to perjury. The plea settled allegations the witness was paid on a contingency basis by the lawyers’ prior firm, giving him an incentive to…

Mar 5, 2008 1:49 PM CST