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Securities Class Actions Attorneys for Fraudulent Activity and Other Wrongdoings
Zamansky LLC represents investors involved in a number of securities class actions, including Ponzi schemes, issuer misrepresentations or omissions, hedge funds, and REIT cases. Contact our securities class actions attorneys at Zamansky LLC for help represent you in a securities class action suit.
What Happens in Securities Class Action Litigation?
In securities class action litigation, one of the first major hurdles for individual investors is the process known as “class certification.” If the judge presiding over the case denies certification, this can stop the case before it really begins (although participating investors may still have options available). On the other hand, if the judge grants certification, this is a major step forward, and it will often spur settlement negotiations between the investors’ securities litigation law firm and the defendant’s attorneys.
If a class action lawsuit does not settle, then it will proceed toward trial on a path similar to that followed in single-plaintiff litigation. The defendant’s attorneys will almost certainly fight to have the plaintiffs’ claims dismissed prior to trial, whereas the plaintiffs may prefer to have their case heard by the jury. In any case, due to the amount of money at stake, the outcome of securities class action lawsuits will often be the subject of an appeal.
ERISA Class Action Lawsuits
In ERISA securities class actions, our securities fraud attorneys represent employees who have invested in their companies’ stock through 401(k) or other retirement savings plans. ERISA is a federal statute designed to ensure that employees who save and invest for their retirement are treated fairly and honestly by their employers. If the company’s savings plan offers its own stock as one of the investment options, then the individuals who administer the plan owe a fiduciary duty to the investor-employees. This fiduciary duty obligates the plan administrators to act in the investor-employees’ best interest. Part of acting in the employees’ best interest requires careful monitoring of the management of the company and ensuring that the company is honestly disclosing its financial condition to the public. Plan administrators must also make certain that the company has effective risk-control systems in place to protect the company in case it runs into problems. When the plan administrators fall short of these duties and substantial losses result, the company and the plan administrators can be subject to liability to their employee-investors.
Class Action Litigation Portal
Zamansky LLC represents investors in securities class action lawsuits and employees in ERISA class action cases.
Get StartedPonzi Scheme Securities Class Actions
In Ponzi scheme cases, our investment arbitration lawyers represent investors who were defrauded by targeting third-party companies who negligently performed their duties and allowed the frauds to succeed. For example, if a Ponzi scheme targets people saving for their retirement, the fraudster will often employ the services of an individual retirement account (IRA) custodian. The custodian is expected to hold the securities, issue accurate statements of the accounts and perform periodic audits of the accounts to ensure that their customers—the investors—are being properly served. In a Ponzi scheme, sometimes there are no actual investments held by the IRA custodian (as in the case of Bernard Madoff). When the IRA custodian fails to detect this and issues false account statements reflecting that the account does in fact hold the securities, the custodian may have been acting negligently and culpably. If, after investigating the facts of an alleged Ponzi scheme, your investment losses lawyer will determine that a third-party company may be liable for some portion of the victims’ losses, we will represent a class of victims in a class action against the culpable third party.
In issuer cases, investment arbitration lawyers represent investors who bought stock in a public company as a result of misleading statements – either misrepresentations or omissions made by the issuer. Issuers of securities are required by federal and state statutes and common law to refrain from misleading the investing public. When issuers fall short of this requirement, they can be liable for any resulting losses. There are countless ways in which issuers can breach their legal duties, but some of the most common involve accounting fraud, misstated earnings, false claims about the financial condition of the company and failures to disclose a key aspect of a securities offering. Oftentimes the issuers’ misrepresentations lead to their company’s stock price being artificially inflated, so investors who purchase at that higher price are harmed. Once the misrepresentation is revealed, the stock price can plummet, harming investors again as the truth comes to be known by the market. In cases such as this, our securitiesclass actions attorneys represent investors against the issuers and, where appropriate, any underwriters who may have breached their due-diligence or other legal duties.
Class Action Claims Against Hedge Funds
In hedge fund fraud cases, we represent investors who purchased interests in hedge funds in reliance on misleading statements by the funds, or who held their shares not knowing that the fund had engaged in an undisclosed “style drift,” or a shift away from one asset class and into another. Even though hedge fund investors tend to be above average in terms of wealth and sometimes investment experience, they still have the right to full and fair disclosure. Where hedge fund managers or their corporate superiors hide the truth regarding investment strategy, risk factors or conflicts of interest, and their misconduct leads to losses, they can be liable to their investors.
Class Action Litigation Against REIT
In REIT cases, we represent investors who invested in REITs in reliance on misleading statements by the issuers. This type of action may arise when a REIT assures its investors that it will pay a consistent dividend or that it will invest only in high-quality properties, only to cut its dividend or waste investor funds on low-quality properties. FINRA has repeatedly cautioned investors to be careful of REITs that sound too good to be true. FINRA has also issued guidance to investors on how best to analyze whether a REIT is an appropriate investment to meet their investment objectives and conform with their tolerance for risk.
Take Part in the Securities Class Actions Managed by Zamansky
If you have invested in any of these types of securities or funds and you have suffered losses as a result of misconduct by a brokerage firm, fund manager, issuer or third party, contact our securities fraud law firm today. Our FINRA arbitration attorneys will discuss your legal rights and investigate your claim to determine whether the securities class actions process is the best vehicle for you to recover your losses.
Recent News & Media
Currently Pending Class Action Litigation
Our securities class action practice helps investors recover losses, sheds light on industry wrongdoing, and helps restore confidence in the marketplace. Our ERISA class action practice helps current and former employees recover irreplaceable retirement savings often lost as a result of fraud or other breaches of fiduciary duties.
Lifetouch ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC recently filed an ERISA class action on behalf of current and former Lifetouch employees invested in Lifetouch stock through the Lifetouch Employee Stock Ownership Plan alleging breaches of fiduciary duties owed to these employees.
J.C. Penney ERISA Litigation
As sole interim class counsel, Zamansky LLC successfully obtained a settlement of $4.5 million for J.C. Penney employees in an ERISA class action over misrepresentations related to the company’s “fair and square” pricing strategy. Class members can visit the following website for more information regarding this settlement and the status of its administration: http://www.jcperisaclassaction.com/
Avon Products ERISA Litigation
As interim co-lead counsel, Zamansky LLC successfully obtained a settlement of $6.25 million for Avon Products employees in an ERISA class action over misrepresentations associated with violations of compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Class members can visit the following website for more information regarding this settlement and the status of its administration: http://avonerisasettlement.com/
Wells Fargo ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC partner Samuel Bonderoff serves on the Executive Committee in this ERISA class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Wells Fargo employees over the banking giant’s cross-selling scandal. The suit alleges that employees of Wells Fargo secretly signed up bank customers for unauthorized accounts in order to meet internal quotas.
Exxon ERISA Litigation
As interim class counsel, Zamansky LLC represents Exxon employees in an ERISA class action case to recover retirement savings losses resulting from Exxon’s materially false and misleading public statements repeatedly highlighting the strength of its business model and its transparency and reporting integrity, particularly with regard to its oil and gas reserves and value of those reserves. These statements were materially false and misleading when made because they failed to disclose: (i) that Exxon’s own internally generated reports concerning climate change recognized the environmental risks caused by global warming and climate change; (ii) that, given the risks associated with global warming and climate change, the Company would not be able to extract the existing hydrocarbon reserves Exxon claimed to have and, therefore, a material portion of Exxon’s reserves were stranded and should have been written down; and (iii) that Exxon had employed an inaccurate “price of carbon”—the cost of regulations such as a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system to push down emissions—in evaluating the value of certain of its future oil and gas prospects in order to keep the value of its reserves materially overstated.
View More Currently Pending Securities Class Actions Claims
Hewlett Packard ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC was appointed interim lead counsel in this class action lawsuit currently on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The suit alleges that the HP fiduciaries responsible for ensuring that HP company stock was a prudent investment offering for the company’s employee 401(k) plan failed to fulfill their duties. Specifically, the suit alleges that the fiduciaries should have undertaken a thorough review of the stock’s prudence as it became clear that the company’s multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Autonomy represented a vast overpay and that the company would have to take a massive write-down, negatively impacting the value of HP stock.
Allergan ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC represents the putative class of Allergan employees in this ERISA class action lawsuit brought to recover retirement savings losses resulting from alleged anti-competitive, and possibly illegal, collusive price fixing of generic pharmaceutical drugs.
American Express ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC represents the putative class of American Express Company employees in this ERISA class action over losses suffered from misrepresentations associated with the expiration of its co-branding agreement with Costco.
Whole Foods ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC represents the putative class of Whole Foods Market employees in this ERISA class action over losses suffered from misrepresentations associated with its quality controls and consumer regulatory violations for overcharging.
Walt Disney ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC, as co-counsel for the putative class, represents Disney employees in this ERISA class action lawsuit brought to recover retirement savings caused by breaches of fiduciary duties by Plan fiduciaries to Plan participants. Disney employees were offered an investment option for their retirement savings—the Sequoia Fund—that promised to follow a “value” investment strategy, yet as it instead pursued a “growth” strategy, Plan fiduciaries continued to offer the Sequoia Fund to unsuspecting Plan participants.
IBM ERISA Litigation
As interim lead counsel, Zamansky LLC securities class actions attorneys, represents IBM employees in an ERISA class action case over misrepresentation relating to $700 million of losses reported in its Microelectronics business segment.
L-3 Communications ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC represents the putative class of L-3 employees in this ERISA class action lawsuit brought to recover retirement savings losses which arose out of a massive accounting fraud. L-3 has admitted and acknowledged that: i) misconduct, accounting errors and concealment occurred at its Aerospace Systems segment; ii) four senior officers who participated in the accounting fraud were terminated for intentional misconduct; iii) its financial results on its annual report for 2013 and quarterly report for the first quarter of 2014 were misstated by $169 million, and L-3 belatedly filed corrected results; and iv) its internal controls for financial reporting were inadequate and it adopted remediation plans that it still cannot state are effective.
Eaton ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC represented the putative class of Eaton Corporation employees in this ERISA class action currently on appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. This suit seeks to recover losses resulting from false and misleading representations which assured investors and the market of the continued feasibility of divesting Eaton’s automobile-part manufacturing business on a tax-free basis following a 2012 merger and reincorporation.
Edison ERISA Litigation
Zamansky LLC, securities class actions attorneys, represented the putative class of Edison International Inc. employees in this ERISA class action over misrepresentation relating to a proposed $3.3 billion settlement of the regulatory investigation by the California Public Utility Commission over its defunct San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Notable Securities Class Actions
CSO Partners Hedge Fund Litigation
Zamansky LLC was appointed co-class counsel for investors in a fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and aiding and abetting case against Citigroup Inc. and Citigroup Alternative Investments Inc. for its failed Corporate Special Opportunities Ltd. fund, a distressed debt fund. The suit alleged that investors were misled concerning conflicts of interest, risk controls, and other aspects of the hedge fund, and that they suffered substantial damages when the fund was liquidated at three cents on the dollar after entering a highly leveraged, poorly priced position over the portfolio manager’s objections. After successfully overcoming a motion to dismiss and obtaining discovery, a settlement of $13.5 million was reached. Class members can visit the following website for more information regarding this settlement and the status of its administration: http://www.csohedgefundsettlement.com/
Class Action Litigation Portal
Zamansky LLC represents investors in securities class action lawsuits and employees in ERISA class action cases.
Get StartedMF Global Securities Litigation
As additional counsel for named plaintiffs in this consolidated securities class action arising out of the collapse of MF Global Holdings Limited in October 2011 for violations of federal securities laws, Zamansky LLC worked towards obtaining an aggregate total recovery of $234.3 million for investors. Class members can visit the following website for more information regarding this settlement and the status of its administration: http://mfglobalsecuritiesclassaction.com/
Millenium Hedge Fund Litigation
As co-lead class counsel, Zamansky LLC successfully obtained a settlement of $14.75 million for hedge fund investors in the now-collapsed Millenium Global Emerging Credit Fund who were victims of a fraudulent net asset valuation inflation conspiracy scheme involving Nigerian and Uruguayan warrants.
Facebook IPO Litigation
Zamansky LLC, as one of the lead attorneys for the plaintiff class of investors in a negligence action against the NASDAQ Stock Market, was instrumental in obtaining a $26.5 million settlement for the class. This class action case sought recovery for millions of investors who suffered massive damages as a result of NASDAQ’s negligent inability to properly conduct the Facebook initial public offering. Class members can visit the following website for more information regarding this settlement and the status of its administration:
JinkoSolar Securities Litigation
As co-lead counsel for a class of investors, Zamansky LLC successfully obtained a settlement of $5.05 million against JinkoSolar and its underwriters for registration statement and financial report misrepresentations and omissions concerning its compliance with environmental standards during its manufacture of solar chips. Class members can visit the following website for more information regarding this settlement and the status of its administration: http://www.jinkosolarsecuritiessettlement.com/
Citigroup Securities L
As co-lead counsel in this securities litigation lawsuit, Zamansky LLC successfully obtained a settlement of $8.5 million for a class of Citigroup employees for losses suffered in their employee restricted FCAP stock and stock option plan resulting from securities fraud.
Principal Financial Group Ponzi Scheme Litigation
As co-lead counsel, the securities class actions attorneys at Zamansky LLC successfully obtained a settlement of $3.2 million for a class of investors against the custodian of their IRA and pension accounts, the assets of which were stolen in the James Nicholson/Westgate Ponzi scheme fraud.