Securities Litigation
Our Practice
Pedersen's Securities Litigation lawyers regularly apply their extensive industry knowledge and wide-ranging experience to financial disputes. We deliver outstanding litigation, mediation, and arbitration dispute resolution services to a diverse group of clients that include publicly held companies and financial services firms.
We are aggressive and efficient advocates for our clients in state and federal courts at both the trial and appellate levels. We handle securities, commodities, and futures lawsuits and arbitrations that involve churning, unauthorized trading, suitability, fraud, and RICO claims. We obtained one of the first successful verdicts in an Auction Rate Securities (ARS) case. We have also successfully sought and obtained injunctive relief for brokerage houses enforcing trade secret, non-compete, and non-solicitation protections.
We also have achieved favorable outcomes for clients in lawsuits involving tax shelter programs, insider trading, Rule 10b-5, and other violations of federal and state securities statutes.
Pedersen litigators have represented commodity futures clearing members, floor brokers, customers and corporate officers in federal grand jury proceedings, FINRA, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations, and securities exchange and National Futures Association arbitrations.
We regularly serve as arbitrators in the National Futures Association and in FINRA proceedings.
In addition, we have a strong track record in defending brokers charged with churning, prearranged trading, and noncompetitive training, as well as in representing customers filing similar charges against brokers and brokerage firms.
Our Experience
- Successfully obtained temporary restraining orders for many clients in Illinois and other states.
- Obtained a landmark $2.5 million verdict against a financial advising firm for violating Rule 10(b) and other securities acts related to the sale of ARS that were represented to be cash equivalents. As one of the first significant ARS cases, the verdict was covered by The Wall Street Journal.
- Represented shareholders of a closely-held internet company valued at $10 million in claims against a rogue shareholder who transferred and secreted company funds off shore, obtaining a $3 million judgment in shares and sanctions for the clients.
- Obtained favorable settlements in more than 40 cases involving commodity straddles, in which the federal government challenged clients for back taxes.
- Successfully defended a major brokerage firm charged with churning in one of the first arbitration matters held before the National Futures Association and have defended other major firms in securities churning, suitability and fraud arbitrations before the NYSE and FINRA (and NASD prior to FINRA).