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Mutual Fund Fraud Lawyers
LEGAL EXPERIENCE:
Our firm includes a team of attorneys, paralegals,
consultants and staff members all with experience
in securities matters. Few firms in the United
States represent more clients each year in securities
arbitration matters. Over the past decade we
have represented hundreds of investors nationwide
in litigation, arbitration and mediation, including
before arbitrators at the National Association
of Securities Dealers (NASD) and New York Stock
Exchange (NYSE). Our clients have collectively
recovered millions of dollars either through
settlements or awards. We have assisted clients
in arbitration in major cities nationwide including
New York City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Indianapolis,
Austin, New Orleans, Portland, Orlando, San
Francisco, Houston, Louisville, Dallas, Denver,
Phoenix, Albuquerque, Little Rock, Oklahoma
City, and Raleigh.
BROKERAGE
FIRM AND INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE:
We
have handled a wide variety of cases, including
misrepresentations, commission churning, unsuitable
investments, unauthorized transactions, excessive
markups, disappearing funds, botched transfers,
execution failures, web-broker outages, "selling
away" from the firm, unlicensed brokers, unregistered
securities, margin liquidations, broker bribes,
fraudulent research and "boiler room" type sales
practices. Our cases have been involved in stocks
and bonds, as well as "penny stocks", "junk
bonds", options, warrants, commodities, mutual
funds, REIT's, limited partnerships and other
types of investments. We have also handled other
types of cases for investors and for minority
shareholders. Members of our firm have almost
a half-century of combined experience with securities
brokerage firms. That experience gives us insight
into the functions and operations in different
departments of brokerage firms as well as the
activities of stockbrokers.
WILLIAM S. SHEPHERD: Received
his Bachelor of Arts degree from The University
of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, and his
law degree (JD) from South Texas College of
Law in Houston. Mr. Shepherd also earned a Masters
of Law Degree (LLM) from Georgetown University
Law School in Washington, D.C. His experience
in the brokerage industry spans two decades
and includes assisting banks and other institutions
investments as well as serving as vice-president
of several major brokerage firms.
KIRK GEORGE SMITH: Received
his Bachelor of Arts degree from Loyola University,
in New Orleans, and his law degree (JD) from
South Texas College of Law in Houston. Mr. Smith's
experience in the brokerage industry is well
diversified, from marketing for a smaller specialized
Wall Street firm to working as an investment
advisor for a major brokerage firm.
SAMUEL B. EDWARDS: Received
his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University
of Texas at Austin and his law degree (JD)
from the University of Houston, where he was
a honors graduate (cum laude) and a member
of the Phi Alpha Delta international legal
fraternity. Mr. Edwards is an active member
of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association
(PIABA) and the American Trial Lawyers Association
(ATLA), working in conjunction with attorneys
across the country to fight for the rights
of individual investors in the marketplace.
Additionally, Mr. Edwards is on the Board
of Editors of the PIABA Bar Journal where
he is also a regular contributing author.
In the last several years, Mr. Edwards has
represented hundreds of investors and recovered
millions of dollars for wronged customers,
including extensive work on the largest broker-fraud
arbitration award in the history of the NYSE.
RONALD H. THRASH: Received
his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science
degrees from Texas Tech University, and his
law degree (JD) from the University of Houston
Law Center (cum laude, top 10%). Mr. Thrash
is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant.
He is a former Chief Financial Officer with
corporate experience in domestic and international
banking, treasury functions, securities registration,
merger and acquisitions, accounting and investment
banking activities. Mr. Thrash has over thirty
years of active involvement in various investments,
including stocks and bonds, factoring, real
estate, oil and gas, and venture capital.
ROBERT A. KANTAS: maintains
a regional securities arbitration and litigation
practice. He has had primary responsibility
for dozens of securities cases. Mr. Kantas received
his Bachelor of Science degree in Management
(cum laude) from Golden Gate University in San
Francisco, California, and a Juris Doctor degree
from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Mr. Kantas has written and taught on the subject
of securities arbitration and specifically broker/customer
disputes. He is the Co-Author of Arbitrating
Claims Against Stockbrokers, The Journal of
the Virginia Trial Lawyer's Association, pp.
3-13, Winter 2002/2003, and Co-Author and Lecturer
of the Virginia CLE Program, Claims Against
Stockbrokers: How to Advise Your Investor Client,
February 2003. Prior to joining Shepherd Smith
& Edwards, he had a busy securities arbitration
and commercial litigation practice with a law
firm in central Virginia. He is a member of
the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association,
the American Bar Association, and the American
Trial Lawyer's Association. Mr. Kantas maintains
a BV Martindale-Hubble rating. Prior to beginning
his law practice, he served in the United States
Air Force for more than ten years.
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