Securities

Waymaker handles securities disputes for plaintiffs and defendants. We are experienced in representing banks, investment professionals, corporate investors, and individual investors. The firm’s attorneys have handled securities cases involving allegations of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, failure to comply with federal or state registration requirements, and breach of contract claims in a variety of forums – including federal court, state court, arbitration proceedings before FINRA or other arbitral bodies, and investigations before the SEC.

The firm’s attorneys include several former federal prosecutors, a former enforcement lawyer with the SEC, and seasoned civil litigators with experience before FINRA and other arbitral bodies. For example, Waymaker partner Keri Axel previously worked as an SEC enforcement attorney. In that capacity, Keri handled securities, investor, procurement, and immigration benefit fraud as well as federal tax fraud and evasion cases. In the private sector, she helps clients navigate difficult securities disputes and avoid or reduce SEC penalties, as well as civil liability.

Although some representative engagements are listed below, the firm’s work for clients is often unpublished and takes place in confidential arbitral forums. We have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for our certain clients and have helped others avoid similar sums in liability. We take certain securities cases on a contingency or hybrid fee arrangement.

Representative Engagements:

• Assil v. Manana Media
  Represented an investor in an international media company seeking to collect on various financial instruments through which he had invested in, and loaned money to, the company. After extensive discovery and motion practice, the parties reached an agreement that permitted our client to establish priority and recover the majority of his investment.

• Cronin, et al. v. Zions Direct, Inc.
  Represented Zions Direct in FINRA arbitration against claims from an individual arising from losses in a stock trading account. Following early discovery, we negotiated a favorable resolution for our client.

• McGladrey Capital Markets v. Icon Aircraft, Inc.
  Successfully defended a client in an arbitration against multi-million dollar claims brought by an investment bank over a round of financing that had been raised for the client. After a five-day long arbitration, the arbitrator ruled in our client’s favor and ordered the bank to reimburse our client for nearly all its attorneys’ fees and costs.