Birmingham Securities Lawyer

Birmingham Securities Lawyer

Rampant and well-publicized cases of securities fraud created the need for more legislative oversight and increased reporting for publicly-held companies. In recent years, failed or bailed out banks and financial institutions have been the prime targets of class action lawsuits brought by shareholders seeking damages for misrepresentations and omissions in securities offering documents.

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 gives shareholders the right to bring these actions, but the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, or PSLRA, imposes new rules on securities class action litigation. The PSLRA requires investors to have evidence supporting deliberate securities fraud, allows judges to designate the best lead plaintiff and mandates full disclosure of proposed settlements to investors.

Christian & Small’s securities attorneys have broad experience helping companies, their officers and directors in securities matters. Prior to joining the firm, our securities lawyers gained experience as in-house legal counsel and in government service in the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington, D.C. Securities matters that we’ve handled include:

• Securities litigation
• Insider trading litigation
• Regulatory investigations
• Internal investigations
• Broker-dealer arbitration
• SEC and NASD inspections
• SEC administrative proceedings
• Investment adviser matters

Representative Matters

• Ala. Sec. Comm’n  v. Greater Ministries Int’l, No. 99-CV-1786-T-30MSS, 2003 WL 21802139 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 6, 2003), aff’d in part and rev’d in part 125 Fed. App’x 975 (11th Cir. 2004).
• The Ret. Sys. of Ala. v. Merrill Lynch & Co., No. CV-03-H-2308 (Circuit Court of Montgomery County).
• The Ret. Sys. of Ala. v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., No. CV-02-1947-PR (Circuit Court of Montgomery County).
• Wis. Inv. Bd. v. Ruttenberg, Nos. CV-99-BE-3097-S & CV-99-BE-3129-S (N.D. Ala.).
• Mut. Sav. Life Ins. Co. v. James River Corp. of Va., 716 So. 2d 1172 (Ala. 1998), overruled by White Sands Group, L.L.C. v. PRS II, LLC, 32 So. 3d 5 (Ala. 2009).
• The Employees Ret. Sys. of Ala. v. The May Dep’t Stores Co., No. CV92-2726-R (Circuit Court of Montgomery County).
• Ayers v. Sutliffe, No. C-1-90-650 (S.D. Ohio); Randolph County Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Sutliffe, 775 F. Supp.1113 (S.D. Ohio 1991).
• Hosea v. The Managers Funds, No. 394-CV-01650 (D. Conn.).
• Hynes v. The Enstar Group Inc., No. 2:90-CV-01204-UWC (M.D. Ala.).
• The S.C. Nat’l Bank v. Stone, No. 7:88-79117 (D.S.C.).