Prosser, Clapper & Johnson Law (“PC&J”) is pleased to announce that their Client has been awarded over $7.5 million dollars by a FINRA Arbitration Panel against former Merrill broker, Tom Buck, following eleven (11) days of hearings conducted in February and March of 2022. A copy of the Award can be found at this link.
The Prosser Firm settled claims of breach of fiduciary duty, elder exploitation, fraud, and failure to supervise brought by its Clients – a senior investor couple – against Morgan Stanley and its Knoxville based broker, Frank Venable, for $6,800,000. This case alleged that Mr. Venable assumed discretion in the Clients’ accounts without proper authorization and excessively traded the account from 2008 through 2016. The requested damages were largely comprised of well managed damages (the difference in how the clients’ accounts actually performed versus how they should have performed had they been prudently managed). A link to the broker’s public disciplinary record can be found here. A link to the Prosser Firm’s press release can be found here.
The Prosser Firm won a FINRA arbitration on behalf of its Clients – a recently retired Nashville couple – against First Allied Securities and its Birmingham-based broker, Larry Boggs. The case stemmed from the broker’s faulty financial plans that showed the couple could afford to take early retirement based on devoting approximately 90% of their net worth to the purchase of a single variable annuity. While this annuity did not lose money, it did not perform as their broker had projected and the couple were likely to run out of money long before their deaths. The Clients’ recovery consisted of compensatory damages of $578,247 based on the amount of money the couple would have earned but for their early retirement, over $410,000 in attorneys’ fees/costs, and $500,000 in punitive damages. A link to this fully executed Award can be found here. A link to the Prosser Firm’s press release can be found here.
The Prosser Firm obtained an $800,000 arbitration award in favor of Raymond James against its former broker, Michael Camferdam. The suit began as an action by Raymond James to collect the approximately $250,000 balance owed by the former broker on his promissory notes. The broker refused to pay and instead responded with counterclaims for wrongful termination and U-5 defamation, among other things. After 12 days of trial, the Panel gave Raymond James a full award – including the complete note balance owed, interest thereon at the 10% per annum note rate and complete attorneys’ fees. The former broker’s claims were denied in their entirety. A link to this Award can be found here.