Press Release: 11-2006
NASD Arbitrators Award $1.2 Million to Venice, Florida Couple
Sarasota, Florida – A Venice, Florida couple who were defrauded by an A.G. Edwards broker were awarded $1.2 million plus their attorneys’ fees by a three-member panel of arbitrators in Tampa appointed by the National Association of Securities Dealers. The award, which is assessed against both A.G.Edwards and its former employee, Brian Christensen, includes $249,644 in punitive damages.
The retired investors, Roger and Joelle Bellehumeur, were customers of A.G. Edwards’ Venice office. A. G. Edwards’ now former broker, Christensen, encouraged them to invest their retirement nest egg in annuities, but later arranged for the liquidation of the annuity investments and the transfer of their proceeds into a non-profit entity known as All School Kids, with the promise that the investors would get a modest rate of interest. Christensen and the principal of All School Kids, George O’Neil, were charged in 2005 by the state of Florida with criminal fraud, based on the state’s belief that All School Kids was a “Ponzi” scheme, where money from new investors is used to pay off earlier investors.
A.G. Edwards fired Christensen in March, 2003 when it was discovered he was putting customers’ money into All School Kids. However, A.G. Edwards never warned the Bellehumeurs of what it knew about Christensen’s activities. The Bellehumeurs’ Sarasota attorneys, Drew Clayton and Jessica Lavely Clayton, presented testimony and evidence over an eight-day arbitration hearing in support of their argument that A.G. Edwards had a duty to warn their clients and other customers about Christensen’s unlawful activities.
The Bellehumeurs’ attorney, Drew Clayton, said, “We are thrilled to have obtained an award of this magnitude on behalf of our clients. They have endured enormous financial, physical and emotional hardships as a result of this experience. Hopefully, this award will provide them with financial security for the rest of their lives.”
In the absence of any warning from A.G. Edwards, the Bellehumeurs invested several hundred thousand dollars in All School Kids after Christensen was fired. The arbitration panel awarded compensatory damages in the amount of $750,356, which includes not only the money invested by the Bellehumeurs in All School Kids and another fraudulent investment known as Megaworld while they were customers of A.G. Edwards, but also several hundred thousand dollars invested after the Bellehumeurs transferred their accounts to Christensen’s new employer, Kashner Davidson Securities in Sarasota, Florida. The claimants also recovered $168,000 in interest and costs of more than $32,000. The arbitrators also ruled that the Bellehumeurs were entitled to reimbursement of their attorneys’ fees.
The Bellehumeurs reached a settlement on confidential terms with Kashner Davidson Securities earlier this year.
About the Clayton Law Firm, P.A.
The Clayton Law Firm, P.A. ("Clayton Law") was established in 1996 by W. Andrew "Drew" Clayton, Jr. in Sarasota, Florida for the purpose of concentrating its practice in the representation of aggrieved investors, resolving business disputes, and periodically engaging in probate and trust-related litigation. Clayton Law is a partner in a partnership of professional associations known as "Johnson, Browning & Clayton."
Clayton Law concentrates its practice in the representation of investors who have disputes with brokerage firms and issuers of securities. Typical disputes, which are often the subject of NASD and NYSE securities arbitration proceedings, involve claims of fraud, negligence and unsuitable investment recommendations arising from the recommendation of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, annuities, options, and other securities. The law firm is also engaged in business and estate-related litigation and arbitration. Its lawyers represent people on hourly, contingency fee, and part-hourly/part contingency fee bases, depending upon the case.
Drew Clayton, who is admitted to practice in Florida, New Jersey and New York is also certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a circuit civil court mediator, and is available to help attorneys and others to settle their disputes. Mediation has proven to be one of the most effective means of alternative dispute resolution. In a mediation, a neutral third party - the mediator - can help parties and their lawyers resolve a dispute by helping them examine the strengths and weaknesses of their cases and proposing creative methods to resolve the legal problem at hand.
In a mediation, the parties decide how the dispute will be resolved, rather than leave their fates in the hands of a judge and/or jury, or arbitration panel. All discussions are considered confidential, and cannot be used by any party in the dispute in the event the case does not settle.
Jessica Lavely Clayton has practiced with the firm since 2003. Since that time she has been involved in dozens of complex securities cases. In addition to her work on securities-related disputes, Jessica, who has an advanced degree in tax law from Boston University, also handles tax-related disputes, and is available for estate planning matters as well.
“The Arbitration Process” is an article written by Drew Clayton to address a number of commonly asked questions about securities arbitration proceedings.
http://www.claytonlawyers.com/thearbitrationprocess.htm
The Clayton Law Firm website is located at http://www.claytonlawyers.com/
Information about mediation services can be found at http://www.claytonlawyers.com/mediation-services.html
Information about their legal services can be found at
http://www.claytonlawyers.com/legal-services.html
The Clayton Law Firm, P. A.
1 North Tuttle Avenue
Sarasota Florida 34237
phone: 941.951.0707
fax: 941.951.7702
http://www.claytonlawyers.com/
The hiring of a lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements. Before you decide, ask us to send free written information about our qualifications and experience.
The Clayton Law Firm, P. A.
One North Tuttle Avenue
Sarasota Florida 34237
phone: 941.351.6707
fax: 941.351.7702
© 2006 The Clayton Law
Firm, P. A.. All rights reserved.
