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Smiley Speaks at U.S. Dept. of Labor Investment Forum

June 20, 2012 by lmitchum

On April 28, 2012, Brian Smiley was a guest presenter at a public forum on “African Americans & Retirement” sponsored by the Economics Department at Spelman College and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.  Brian spoke on “How to Avoid Being a Victim of Investment Rip-offs & Frauds.”  The forum was moderated […]

Filed Under: Firm News Tagged With: Atlanta securities fraud lawyer, Atlanta securities law firm, Elderly, Pensions, Ponzi Scheme, Retirement

Houston & Lett v. Wells Fargo Advisors

February 21, 2012 by lmitchum

(FINRA, 2011) Elderly Investor Recovers Losses Tied to UIT After a four day hearing, a panel of FINRA arbitrators awarded $130,000.00 in compensatory damages to our clients.  The damages were for losses incurred by an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s disease whose funds were invested primarily in high-risk securities, including a Claymore Unit Investment Trust (“UIT”).

Filed Under: Winning Cases Tagged With: Atlanta investment fraud attorney, Atlanta Securities arbitration attorney, Atlanta securities fraud lawyer, Atlanta securities law firm, Atlanta Securities Lawyers, Atlanta stock fraud attorney, claymore, UIT, unit investment trust

What’s a UIT?

December 7, 2011 by lmitchum

With apologies to “My Cousin Vinnie,” a UIT is a Unit Investment Trust. UITs are investment products that brokers love to sell and investors should avoid. UITs are portfolios of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds which are assembled by trustees and then sold in units consisting of a portion of all of the assets in […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Atlanta investment fraud attorney, Atlanta Securities arbitration attorney, Atlanta securities fraud lawyer, Atlanta securities law firm, Atlanta stock fraud attorney, UIT

SBP Investigating Wells Non-Traded REITs

November 23, 2011 by lmitchum

The law firm of Smiley Bishop & Porter LLP is investigating potential claims against Wells Investment Securities, Inc. (“Wells Securities” and “Wells”) concerning its sales of Wells Real Estate Funds. Wells Securities is a Norcross, Georgia based broker-dealer which makes most of its revenue from selling Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”) and direct participation agreements. […]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Atlanta Securities Lawyers

Citigroup/Smith Barney MAT/ASTA Funds

March 11, 2011 by lmitchum

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 […]

Filed Under: Current Investigations Tagged With: Citigroup, Investment Fraud Attorney, MAT/ASTA, Securities Arbitration Attorney, Securities Fraud Lawyer, Securities Law Firm, Securities Lawyers, Stock Fraud Attorney

MAT/ASTA Fund

March 11, 2011 by lmitchum

In 2002, Citigroup’s Smith Barney brokerage unit started marketing six MAT/ASTA hedge funds to its clients. These Citigroup proprietary funds were trusts, which used borrowed money to buy municipal bonds, and were supposed to make profits based on the spread in interest rates between borrowed and invested funds. Total assets in these funds were approximately […]

Filed Under: Investment Products Tagged With: Investment Fraud Attorney, MAT/ASTA, Securities Arbitration Attorney, Securities Fraud Lawyer, Securities Law Firm, Securities Lawyers, Stock Fraud Attorney

Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Funds

March 10, 2011 by lmitchum

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 […]

Filed Under: Current Investigations Tagged With: Collateralized Debt Obligations, FINRA, FINRA Arbitration, Investment Fraud Attorney, Morgan Keegan, SEC, Securities Arbitration Attorney, Securities Fraud Lawyer, Securities Law Firm, Securities Lawyers, Stock Fraud Attorney

East Tennessee Neurology P.C. Profit Sharing Plan v. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc.

March 9, 2011 by lmitchum

Profit sharing plan recovery for losses on RMK Bond Funds (FINRA, 2010) Brian Smiley and Mike Bishop, along with co-counsel, represented the pension plan for a medical practice. The plan’s losses arose from investments solicited in three Regions Morgan Keegan Bond Funds (RMK High Income, RMK Strategic Income, and RMK Multi-Sector Funds). These funds took incredible […]

Filed Under: Winning Cases Tagged With: FINRA Arbitration, Investment Fraud Attorney, Morgan Keegan, Securities Arbitration Attorney, Securities Fraud Lawyer, Securities Law Firm, Securities Lawyers, Stock Fraud Attorney

Perkins and Powell v. Morgan Keegan & Company, Inc.

March 9, 2011 by lmitchum

Recovery for losses in RMK Bond Fund (FINRA, 2009) Brian Smiley, Mike Bishop, and our co-counsel obtained an award of full compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees, plus costs for two clients. The claim related to Regions Morgan Keegan’s Select Intermediate Bond Fund. In defending the case, Morgan Keegan used two expert witnesses, including a former chair of […]

Filed Under: Winning Cases Tagged With: FINRA Arbitration, Investment Fraud Attorney, Morgan Keegan, Securities Arbitration Attorney, Securities Fraud Lawyer, Securities Law Firm, Securities Lawyers, Stock Fraud Attorney

Soden v. Scottrade, Inc. v. Soden

March 9, 2011 by lmitchum

Successful defense of third-party claim brought by brokerage firm (FINRA, 2008) This was an unusual case in which we represented a widow who was sued by a brokerage firm on a third party claim for indemnification. After a hotly contested hearing that spilled over into court proceedings, the arbitrators entered an award in favor of […]

Filed Under: Winning Cases Tagged With: FINRA Arbitration, Investment Fraud Attorney, Securities Arbitration Attorney, Securities Fraud Lawyer, Securities Law Firm, Securities Lawyers, Stock Fraud Attorney

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