Parker Hudson Attorneys Named As 2021 Georgia Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
Feb 12, 2021
Overview
Parker Hudson's securities litigation and arbitration team is widely recognized for its experience, knowledge of the securities industry, client service, and winning results in high stakes securities litigation and arbitration on behalf of our securities brokerage clients. With over 75 years of combined experience and well over 400 trials in court and arbitration, our clients trust our experience and judgment to guide them to a successful resolution of their most important, complex, and high profile securities related disputes.
Our clients turn to us because of our creative approach to developing winning strategies, our commitment to understanding the securities industry and each client’s unique business, our hands on approach and attention to detail, our winning trial results, and our credibility in courtrooms and before arbitrators across the country. Our securities attorneys are highly experienced representing securities broker-dealers, investment advisors, and individual investment professionals in state and federal courts and in FINRA arbitrations defending all manner of securities-related claims. Our team handles disputes involving every kind of investment product, including stocks, bonds, options, open and closed end mutual funds, exchange traded funds, limited partnerships and other direct investments, alternative investments, and structured products.
The Parker Hudson securities litigation team also represents broker/dealer clients in mass actions involving in some cases thousands of separate cases stemming from the collapse of a single security or a class of securities or other investment products. The team also represents corporate clients in derivative actions, and we routinely represent our corporate clients, as well as their directors and officers, in claims alleging breaches of fiduciary duty related to corporate control, approval of corporate transactions, stock option backdating issues, and corporate waste.
Securities litigation and arbitration often arise from or trigger separate scrutiny from regulators, including the SEC, FINRA, and state securities commissioners. Our team represents clients in responding to the full gamut of regulatory inquiries, examinations, investigations, and enforcement actions. We have the experience, judgment, relationships with regulators, and professional approach to guide our clients through the challenges and uncertainty of any regulatory matter.
What we offer:
- Thorough understanding of the securities industry and the unique businesses of our broker/dealer clients
- Deep and current knowledge of the securities regulatory landscape
- A deep first chair trial team that has tried hundreds of cases over 30+ years, with a strong track record of success
- Compelling value delivered through lean staffing – typically one experienced partner, one associate, and one legal assistant – and active management by an experienced first chair partner, all with fee arrangements that provide more value to the client
- Ability to distill complex facts into simple points of persuasion and to develop creative strategies to win
- Well-recognized excellent quality of client service defined by a strong work ethic, attention to detail, and timely responses to your most urgent or critical needs
- Credibility among judges, juries, and arbitration panels
- Judgment borne of first chair trial experience enabling us to provide reliable case evaluation and risk assessment
Experience
- Won a major victory on behalf of a securities broker-dealer in a customer case that was decided by a three-arbitrator FINRA panel. The case involved allegedly improper withdrawals from a trust account, which was depleted by the trustee for his own use. The customers sought $19 million in damages. After a week-long evidentiary hearing, the Panel rejected all of the customers’ claims, awarded our client $500,000 in attorney fees, and ruled that the individual brokers’ regulatory records should be “expunged” of all references to the “false” claims.
- Successfully represented numerous broker-dealers in FINRA arbitrations involving claims of unsuitability, misrepresentation, and securities fraud relating to various stock, bond, option, and limited partnership investments.
- Served as lead counsel on behalf of a national broker/dealer client in a series of FINRA arbitrations arising out the departure of multiple employees following the client's sale of its wealth division. The firm filed individual arbitrations to recover amounts owed by the former employees and defended against their various employment-related counterclaims. The firm was successful in recovering over $16 million for the client and defeating more than $17 million in claims against the client.
- Successfully represented securities broker-dealer in FINRA arbitration involving claims of libel, slander, wrongful termination and violations of the Georgia Trade Secrets Act.
- Served as lead counsel for our broker/dealer client in a series of cases arising out of a third party's alleged ponzi scheme. The broker/dealer client successfully defeated claims filed in Federal District Court in New York and California and in three FINRA arbitrations and recovered attorneys' fees in two of the arbitrations.
- Represented a national broker/dealer in defense of a FINRA arbitration filed by a former employee of the client alleging wrongful termination, U-5 defamation, and disparate treatment. The former employee sought over $11 million in compensatory damages and punitive damages. After the claimant rested, the Panel unanimously granted the client's motion to dismiss and denied the claimant's claims in their entirety.
- Won a decision from the New York Supreme Court dismissing a $4 million claim against the firm's financial institution client involving the sale of a flexible premium life insurance policy.
- Represented its financial institution client in winning a dismissal of a $4 million fraud claim filed in federal district court in Georgia involving the sale of a flexible premium life insurance policy, which dismissal was affirmed by the Eleventh Circuit.
- Served as lead counsel in a FINRA arbitration defending claims for $19 million based on alleged improper withdrawals by a trustee from a trust account. After a week-long evidentiary hearing, a panel of three arbitrators rejected the claims and awarded our client $500,000 in legal fees.
- Represented a financial advisor and successfully defeated claims brought by the advisor's former client for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and violation of New York's deceptive acts and practices act. The claimant sought to recover over $665,000 plus punitive damages. After more than a year of arbitration proceedings before FINRA, the claimant dismissed the claim with prejudice and recovered nothing.
- Served as lead counsel for a world renowned landscape architect in a post-settlement JAMS arbitration between the client and his former business partners, a Chinese architect and a French urban planning professional, all of whom previously operated a very successful multi-disciplinary commercial design firm in Shanghai, China. During a multi-day hearing before a London-based arbitrator the parties presented testimony from witnesses in Europe, China and the Philippines. Following the conclusion of the arbitration, the arbitrator entered a substantial award in favor of the firm’s client, including broad injunctive relief and a seven figure monetary judgment. The award was confirmed over objection and the client prevailed in an appeal to the confirmation order.
- Served as lead counsel for a major regional bank in a AAA arbitration challenging the bank’s disposition of the assets of a deceased account holder. The claimant pursued claims for alleged fraud, breach of contract, conspiracy, and breach of fiduciary duty. After a litigated hearing during which fact and expert testimony was offered, the AAA arbitrator ruled in favor of the major regional bank on each claim.
- After two weeks of evidentiary hearings before a FINRA securities arbitration panel in New York City in March and May of 2018, the firm secured a complete victory for the broker-dealer client, which had been accused of various wrongdoing concerning a customer's account. The customer had claimed over $14,000,000 in damages and recovered nothing. The panel found that the claims were "false" and recommended that the supervisor's industry records be expunged of any reference to the customer's claims. The case was complicated because it involved over six years of trading and because of the absence of any testimony from the broker, who, tragically, passed away just a few weeks before the hearings began.
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G. Wayne Hillis, Jr.
Partner