On August 30, 2010 the Securities Law Firm of Menzer & Hill, P.A. submitted comments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s congressionally mandated study of implementing a fiduciary duty standard for brokers.

COMMENTS SUBMITTED TO SEC:

Michael  Hill, Esq., CFP
Managing Partner of Securities Law Firm of Menzer Hill, P.A.
Boca Raton, Florida

The Securities Law Firm of Menzer Hill, P.A. supports the Study Regarding Obligations of Brokers, Dealers, and Investment Advisers pursuant to the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. As an attorney, and former chief compliance officer for about 10 years, it is time that the Commission simplifies and codifies the roles of brokers and investment advisers.

Public investors are confused between the two roles and cannot discern whether a financial advisor is operating as a broker or as an investment adviser when dispensing advice. Many times industry persons are dually-registered and even retain customers having both a brokerage account and an investment advisory account. The Commission should enact standards of conduct for the dually-registered person so that the investor is treated fairly and consistently.

The Commission should enact fiduciary duty standards when a broker solicits or recommends the purchase or sale of a security. It should not be whether the broker is handling an investment advisory account (i.e., fee-based account) or commission-based account but whether the investor is entrusting him or herself to the professional advice, guidance, and disclosure by the broker.

Investors should also be afforded the ability to seek private recourse should the broker/investment adviser breach his or her fiduciary duty and not be left solely to the investigatory efforts of regulators.

The Securities Law Firm of Menzer Hill, P.A. primarily represents investors and practices in the areas of securities arbitration and litigation annuities and insurance arbitration and litigation investment adviser arbitration and litigation hedge fund and alternative investment arbitration and broker representation.

Menzer Hill, P.A.
7777 Glades Road
Suite 100
Boca Raton, FL 33434
http://www.menzerhill.com

Armstrong Teasdale LLP announces the arrival of associates Irina Sandler, Lauren Ashley Smith, and Adam R. Wuller.

“The subtle shift in the economy has brought about additional business and afforded us the opportunity to add talent,” said Michael A. Chivell, Armstrong Teasdale’s managing partner. “As we position Armstrong Teasdale as a premier firm in this region, we’ll continue to place a premium on attracting exceptional attorneys in key practice areas.”

Former legal counsel at the affiliate of Emerson Electric in Moscow, Irina Sandler joins the firm’s International practice group and will focus on international trade, import and export controls, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and antitrust compliance. She earned her LL.M. in Intellectual Property and Technology Law from Washington University School of Law, was an Edmund S. Muskie Graduate Program Fellow at the University of Illinois College of Law, and received her Degree in Law from Russian Law Academy of the Russian Ministry of Justice.

Lauren Ashley Smith, a recent law school graduate, is a member of the firm’s Public Finance and Real Estate, and Financial Services practice groups. Drawing on her research and scholarship in land use, and state and local government law, she will focus on public/private real estate development and municipal finance. Additionally, Smith will assist lenders and other creditors seeking to maximize their recovery against debtors in litigation, liquidation, reorganization, and bankruptcy including all aspects of post-judgment collection efforts. She earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law and her B.A. from Marquette University.

Adam R. Wuller, also a recent graduate, is a registered patent attorney with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and joins the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group. The majority of his work will involve the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications in a wide range of technical disciplines, including mechanical and medical devices. Wuller received his J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law and his B.S. in engineering physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

About Armstrong Teasdale: Armstrong Teasdale LLP, with nearly 250 lawyers in offices across the U.S. and China, has a demonstrable track record of delivering sophisticated legal advice and exceptional service to a dynamic client base. Whether an issue is local or global, practice area specific or industry related, Armstrong Teasdale provides each client with an invaluable combination of legal resources and practical advice in nearly every area of law. For more information, please visit www.armstrongteasdale.com.

For more than 20 years, William S. Lerach was the most feared lawyer in America. He and his former firm, Milberg Weiss, were Jedi masters of security law, targeting Fortune 500 companies for corporate fraud and recovering a staggering $45 billion in judgments.

Tough and relentless, plaintiffs saw him as a savior, successfully suing WorldCom, Tyco, Disney,Merrill Lynch and Enron, among others. Lerach brought down high-flying CEOs and companies that routinely cooked the books to keep executives rich and shareholders broke. Famous for his class-action suits and novel legal tactics, he was the scourge of big business, forcing many companies, terrified of being “Lerached,” to settle out of court rather than fight.

In January 2008, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice, admitting he paid a few regular plaintiffs millions in kickbacks to instigate cases that netted the firm some $200 million over two decades. (No plaintiff can benefit more than others in class-action suits.) He was fined nearly $8 million and sentenced to two years in prison.  He was just released in March 2010.
Lerach was famous for tracking stock prices — charting fluctuations against optimistic statements and insider selling — before a stock crashed. If company chiefs cashed in while investors lost their savings, Lerach smelled blood. If public investments were fueled by false claims, the charge was “fraud on the market.” Plus, any investment bank and Big 8 accounting firm that aided and abetted the principles were charged as secondary participants, unleashing a legal juggernaut.

Bill talks about himself,   the legal profession, and  his contributions on behalf of investors everywhere.
If there was ever a modern Greek tragedy about a man and his times, about corporate arrogance and illusions and the scorched-earth tactics to not only counteract corporate America but to beat it at its own game, Bill Lerach's story is it.