Current Investigations

Smiley Bishop & Porter has been engaged to represent former clients of Blake Richards, a Buford, Georgia broker who has been barred from the securities industry for fraud and misappropriation. Richards was employed by several firms including H&R Block Financial Advisors, Ameriprise Advisor Services, Inc. and LPL Financial, Inc. Richards defrauded his clients, who included widows ...

Investors in Apple REIT Ten sold by David Lerner & Associates, Inc. (“DLA) have reason to consider their legal options. FINRA recently filed a complaint against DLA, the underwriter of Apple REIT Ten which invests in extended stay hotels. FINRA alleges that DLA sold this investment to elderly and unsophisticated clients despite having failed to ...

Anyone who was sold one of these notes learned the hard way: in broker-speak the terms “principal protected” and even “100% principal protected” does not really mean your principal is protected. After Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008, holders of the notes learned that they are just unsecured creditors of the insolvent ...

Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP is investigating the fraudulent or unsuitable sales of private placement securities to brokerage firm clients. Click here for a detailed examination of private placements. The lack of transparency in the private placement market has allowed it to become a fertile breeding ground for fraud that has generated regulatory investigations and customer ...

Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP is investigating Securities America’s Medical Capital, Inc. promissory notes and Provident Royalties preferred stock. Clients have brought claims against the firm alleging that it failed to adequately investigate these products, that the investments were unsuitable, and that the firm did not disclose the products’ risks, which were substantial. The Securities and ...

Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP is investigating the Citigroup/Smith Barney MAT/ASTA Hedge Funds. The Funds were allegedly marketed as conservative, suitable investments. Unfortunately, the Funds were heavily leveraged and exposed to higher risk than represented. The Funds were involved in a risky investment strategy known as municipal arbitrage, and many investors were unaware of the ...

Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP has represented a number of individual and institutional investors who bought shares of Morgan Keegan’s RMK High Yield Bond Funds. RMK Funds were marketed as low risk investments, despite a high concentration in subprime mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations. A particular problem was that the funds invested in low ...

Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP is investigating Principal Protected Notes (aka, Structured Notes) commonly sold by major Wall Street firms. The notes are touted as safe investments with a guaranteed minimum rate of return with additional upside related to market or index performance. Unfortunately, Structured Notes are not as safe an investment as promised. Issues ...

Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP has represented clients with significant losses resulting from investments in Auction Rate Securities (ARS). These securities were sold by virtually every major Wall Street firm and were marketed as a highly liquid, safe investment equivalent to CDs or money markets, but with a higher interest rate. In reality, the auction market was not ...

Our employment law practice continues to be quite active as many brokerage firms have restructured and consolidated after mergers and acquisitions. Brokerage firm employees have been dismissed, offered severance packages or been reassigned to new positions. Our law firm has been called upon to advise many clients with regard to the new employment contracts or severance ...