On November 5, 2024, Judge Paul G. Gardephe of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Morgan Stanley’s motion to reconsider and, in a detailed opinion, reaffirmed his November 21, 2023 ruling that Morgan Stanley’s deferred compensation plans are ERISA plans. Last year, Judge…
Click here to listen. Recently, financial advisory firms have been getting slammed by lawsuits over deferred compensation and ERISA violations, with cases involving major players like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and U.S. Bancorp. To help you navigate these turbulent waters, we sat down with Barry R. Lax, a founding partner…
On April 30, 2024, a class action was filed against Merrill Lynch in the Western District Court of North Carolina to recover the deferred compensation that Merrill Lynch cancelled upon Plaintiffs’ voluntary resignation. While we believe there are strong claims against Merrill Lynch for violation of ERISA, we believe that…
Today, the Southern District of New York granted Morgan Stanley’s motion to compel arbitration in the class action Shafer, et. al. v. Morgan Stanley, et. al. (Case 1:20-cv-11047-PGG). Plaintiffs, former Morgan Stanley financial advisors, sued Morgan Stanley asserting that Morgan Stanley violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974…
On August 21, 2023, a retired artist and teacher of the visually impaired represented by Lax & Neville LLP won a FINRA award against Morgan Stanley for its years-long recommendation that she invest her savings in WisdomTree (WETF), a sponsor of exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) and asset manager. Over a…
On June 29, 2015, Mark F. Leone (“Leone”) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver, and Consent (“AWC”) to settle allegations made by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”). Currently, Leone is registered with Cambridge Investment Research, Inc.; however, FINRA alleged that while Leone was registered with Morgan Stanley, he…