Financial Services Litigation and Investigations

Financial services companies face unprecedented challenges as they navigate today’s complex and often turbulent economic and regulatory environment. In order to meet these challenges, companies need direct access to the right resources to resolve legal issues and achieve business objectives.

Wolff & Samson’s Financial Services Litigation and Investigations Group meets that need with the knowledge and experience required to handle the industry’s tougher issues. Our attorneys provide each client with the tailored resources necessary for a successful outcome. We advise broker/dealers, private banks, investment banks, commercial banks, investment advisors, hedge funds, clearing firms and others in a broad range of litigation and regulatory matters, including responding to regulatory investigations and inquiries; enforcement of restrictive covenants and trade secrets and assertion of unfair competition claims; defense of investment-related claims; and resolution of information security issues. Our practice is further strengthened by access to Wolff & Samson attorneys who focus on a wide range of disciplines that are often intertwined, including employment, bankruptcy, tax, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, ERISA, environmental, intellectual property, corporate internal investigations and white collar criminal defense.

Litigation

For more than 35 years, Wolff & Samson litigators have represented a wide range of businesses in federal and state courts, before federal and state administrative agencies and in arbitration forums. In the financial services industry, we assist companies and their officers, directors and employees in resolving disputes, either by preventing litigation or, when necessary, seeing issues through to resolution through trial and appeal. We provide the experienced counsel clients depend on for resolving a wide variety of disputes including:

Litigation involving federal and state securities laws
Shareholder class-action and derivative litigation
Trading disputes
Banking and wire fund transfers claims
Restrictive covenant, trade secret and unfair competition
Customer investment-related claims
Employment and discrimination claims

Regulatory

Wolff & Samson is a leader in advising clients on regulatory matters. Attorneys in our Financial Services Litigation and Investigations Group bring a long and successful track record of representing companies in securities-related regulatory examinations, investigations and enforcement actions by federal, state and self-regulatory organization (SRO) regulators. In addition, our attorneys handle matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and various federal and state regulators involving a broad range of subject matters, including:

Market timing of mutual funds and variable annuities
Market manipulation
Insider trading
Supervision
Fee-based brokerage accounts
Mark-ups
Sales practices and disclosure
Marketing of high-yield bonds
Licensing
Selling away
Unauthorized trading
Options trading and supervision
Investment advisor services and compliance

Because we are a large and diverse firm, we are fully prepared to handle criminal law questions and issues that may arise during the course of securities and regulatory cases. Our team of attorneys includes the former New Jersey state attorney general, former assistant United States attorneys, and state prosecutors from both New York and New Jersey. Clients can rely on the knowledge and experience of these attorneys for thorough and efficient representation, regardless of the issues that arise.

Restrictive Covenant, Trade Secret and Unfair Competition

Combining the firm’s litigation and employment law experience, Wolff & Samson represents a diverse cross-section of clients throughout the country on issues relating to enforcement of restrictive covenants, trade secret protections and confidentiality agreements, as well as with claims relating to “garden leave,” “raiding” and unfair competition. We also draft employment agreements and restrictive covenants for our clients. Our extensive representation of financial institutions includes:

National, regional and local brokers/dealers
Bank-owned brokers/dealers
Commercial banks
Private banks
Investment banks

In addition, our Intellectual Property Group provides clients with litigation and other services with regard to the creation and enforcement of patents, trademarks and copyrights, including those for “business methods.” We also have experience handling other non-competition issues, including employment law and workplace matters such as defamation and harassment claims, wrongful termination claims, collection of promissory notes or retention loans, and compensation matters, including deferred compensation and overtime claims.

Defense of Customer Investment-Related Claims

Wolff & Samson defends firms in the securities sector against claims by customers for investment losses, including claims alleging unsuitability, churning, unauthorized trading, misrepresentation, fraud, breach of contract and fiduciary duty, and a failure to supervise. Our extensive experience in this area of the law includes matters involving a variety of investment products, including equities, bonds, mutual funds, variable and fixed annuities, unit investment trusts (UITs) and options.

Information Security Counseling

The crime of identity theft has become a major law enforcement challenge due to the staggering amount of sensitive, personal information that is vulnerable to criminal interception and misuse. Financial institutions and other businesses that possess sensitive, personal customer data as part of their businesses must be prepared to address the critical issues surrounding information security and identity theft.

Wolff & Samson advises its clients in connection with information security issues under federal and state laws and is constantly monitoring changes in privacy and customer data regulations in order to help clients meet new compliance mandates. Our attorneys provide counseling regarding obligations under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and state laws, such as the New York State Information Security Breach And Notification Act and the New Jersey Identity Theft Prevention Act.