Personal Injury Law

Securities Arbitration: New Hope for Defrauded Retirees

By Louthian Law Firm

Two recent awards in retirement securities arbitrations are bringing hope to retirees who have disputes with brokerage firms that gambled away their retirement funds. The first, in the case of Cain v. Securities America, concerns a retiree whose hard-earned savings were liquidated in favor of more aggressive investments. After an extensive arbitration process, the petitioner was awarded nearly $4 million in compensatory damages, another $3 million in punitive damages designed to punish the securities companies, and nearly $2.5 million to offset legal fees and costs.

The second case, May v. Intersecurities, Inc., involved IRA rollover accounts that were placed into high-variable annuities that proved risky, unsuitable to the retiree?s objectives, and ultimately worthless, producing no investment income whatsoever and losing the funds that had been promised to sustain the petitioner throughout retirement. May was eventually awarded nearly $1.7 million in compensatory damages and half a million dollars in punitive damages.

Full post as published by South Carolina Lawyer Blog on March 17, 2008 (boomark / email).