A significant aspect of the Firm's practice is devoted to providing the investing community with recourse against corporate fraud.  In good economic times, and in bad, corporations and their officers and directors often mislead the investing community into thinking that their particular company is financially strong and growing.  When things are good, greed is usually the motive.  When things are bad, it is often a desire to keep a company afloat which is the driving force.  In either situation, the scheme is generally accomplished by disseminating false and misleading information to the public concerning a company's current and future financial condition in order to create an artificial demand for its stock.  The end result is often the same, the value of the company's securities is artificially inflated until the truth is ultimately disclosed.  When that happens, the price of the stock falls dramatically and individual shareholders, as well as institutions, lose millions and even billions of dollars.

To combat this type of fraud, the Firm aggressively uses federal securities laws, including the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "1934 Act"), in the class action context, to provide an avenue of relief for the investing community.  The Firm pursues these types of actions against corporations, their officers and directors, and even other professionals such as accounting firms and underwriters when applicable.  In addition to being very experienced in this area of the law, the Firm also uses professionals in the fields of investigation, accounting and damages.  The Firm is currently prosecuting numerous federal securities class action lawsuits in a lead capacity in Federal Courts throughout the United States.

Another area of practice for the Firm includes "derivative" actions.  A derivative action is based upon a primary right of the corporation, under state law, which is asserted on the company's behalf by a stockholder because the directors of the company have failed to protect the interests of the shareholders.  Directors usually fail to take the required action because they have a conflict of interest which benefits them, management, and/or a majority shareholder, at the expense of other stockholders.  The stockholder usually sues the directors on behalf of the company for a breach of their fiduciary duties, such as the duties of loyalty, due care, and disclosure. These types of breaches may occur in many situations.  Some examples include an unfair buy‑out or purchase price in the merger context, when a public company decides to take the business private at an unfair price, or when officers and/or directors engage in self‑dealing at the expense of their shareholders.  A successful resolution of a derivative action may include monetary relief for the company's shareholders, the disclosure of important information concerning a proposed transaction and/or changes in corporate governance which can benefit current and future shareholders of the corporation in the long term.

If you believe that you have been the victim of corporate securities fraud, or have otherwise been wronged by a company, its officers, or directors, please contact us and we will be happy to investigate your claim at no charge to you.