Securities Law and Investment Fraud Attorneys

Law Firm Overview FREE CONSULTATION

Stock Market Loss is a multi-dimensional litigation firm providing aggressive and creative problem solving in securities disputes, medical malpractice and personal injury cases, divorce and family law matters. The firm also has a wide array of lawsuits involving business, insurance and governmental subdivision liability.

Hermann, Cahn & Schneider have represented major securities broker-dealers, defending them against customer claims of fraud and negligence for more than 80 years fighting on both sides of the securities litigation. But we eventually became tired of defending activities we felt were unconscionable and decided to redirect our efforts and to focus solely on helping investors who have been victimized by corrupt or careless brokerage firms, insurance companies, and investment advisory firms, as well as individual brokers and agents.

Our attorney's many years of experience spent defending brokerage firms have provided us with valuable insight into the strategies employed by stock brokers and their lawyers. We know how they think and what tactics they’ll use. Because of our experience, you can feel confident in our ability to anticipate and prepare for whatever may happen in your case.

Year this Office was Established: 1979

Languages: English

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Broker Misconduct; Investment Adviser Misconduct; Variable Annuities Sales Misconduct; Variable Life Insurance Sales Misconduct; Misrepresentation or Omission of Facts; Misleading Illustrations; Unsuitable Investments; Margin Trading; Failure to Recommend Protective Hedge Strategies; Failure to Properly Choose or Monitor Outside Money Managers; Structured Products; Hedge Funds; Equity Indexed Annuities; Options; Employee Stock Options and Warrants; Variable Insurance Policies; Variable Annuities.

Areas of Law Description

Stock Market Loss represents clients in the following areas of practice:

- Broker Misconduct

There are many ways a stockbroker can violate legal and ethical obligations to a customer, and in most cases, the broker’s employer — often a large brokerage firm — will be obligated to pay the damages. Tony Hartman, Jay Salamon, and Hugh Berkson are lawyers who exclusively represent clients hurt by the misconduct of investment professionals such as stockbrokers.

- Equity Indexed Annuities

Indexed annuities sometimes referred to as fixed indexed annuities and formerly called equity indexed annuities, are poorly regulated financial instruments sold by insurance agents. Investors often are led to believe that that they can’t lose their principal investment in indexed annuities and that the annuities are very safe.

- Hedge Fund Fraud

Hedge funds are private investment pools for financially sophisticated investors with a lot of money and a high tolerance for risk. Because they’re private funds, they aren't registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and they don’t have to disclose basic information about their investments.

- Investment Adviser Misconduct

The difference between a stock broker and an investment adviser are technical and extensive under the law, an investment adviser is a financial professional who gives investment advice for a fee, sometimes charged on an hourly basis, but usually charged on an annual percentage of assets under management.

- Margin Trading

Margin trading is one of the primary sources of profit for brokerage houses. For the average individual investor, there are few faster ways to lose nearly all of your assets than through large-scale participation in margin trading. Hermann, Cahn & Schneider in Cleveland, Ohio works to help victims of stockbroker misconduct get their money back.

- Misrepresentation/Omission of Facts

Have you suffered a significant investment loss because your stockbroker or investment adviser misrepresented an investment or failed to give you the facts you needed to make an informed investment decision? Some brokers who misrepresent or omit facts are just careless. Others may not necessarily lie, but they might withhold certain facts that could cause you not to invest.

- Misleading Illustration

When a broker, insurance agent, or financial planner makes a recommendation with a long time horizon in mind – for example, a recommendation to purchase a variable universal life insurance policy or to choose a particular asset allocation for a retirement portfolio – you likely will be presented with a hypothetical illustration of future performance.

- Misrepresentation / Omission of Facts

Every investor is entitled to have certain basic information about an investment before buying it. If your broker recommended an investment, but failed to inform you of a fact that might affect your decision to invest — for example, that the investment was extremely risky — you could pursue a claim against the broker for omitting facts.

- Opt Outs from Class Action Litigation

When securities firms or other financial institutions engage in misconduct on a large scale, the victims may number in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands. The result may be that someone brings a class action lawsuit. But if you've suffered a significant financial loss, you should be wary of participating in a class action.

- Options

Purchasing options can give you a hedge against losses, and in that sense, they can be used conservatively. But there are many options strategies that amount to little more than gambling and can increase your risk to a frightening degree. One simple example is the sale of “uncovered” calls.

- Outside Money Managers

When you invest with a large investment firm that has a respected name, you not only expect them to handle your money wisely, but also to handle it themselves. All of their advertising and marketing materials persuade you to believe that they’re the experts, they’ll take care of you, and they’ll treat your hard earned money as carefully as they would their own.

- Structured Products

The term “structured product” doesn't have any widely accepted definition in the investment industry. Structured products are the securities equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster. Their creation begins with a traditional security, such as a bond, but instead of payments derived from the issuer’s own cash flow and eventual return of principal to the investor, the issuer substitute payments derived from the performance of one or more underlying assets.

- Unsuitable Investments

Investing would be easy if a single strategy was right for everyone. Yet investors vary from one another in terms of their financial circumstances, goals, needs, and tolerance of risk. Investments that are appropriate for an unmarried 25-year-old may not be suitable for a 50-year-old with kids in college or for a retiree who depends on investment income.

- Variable Annuities Sales Misconduct

Another problem with variable annuities concerns the way your profits are taxed upon withdrawal. When you eventually take your profits, they’ll be taxed at ordinary income rates rather than the lower capital gains rate applicable to profits from long-term direct investments in mutual funds and other investment vehicles. This can cost you a lot of money.

- Variable Universal Life Sales Misconduct

You might wonder why lawyers who represent investors in disputes against stockbrokers would be writing about life insurance. Most people are unaware that certain life insurance products are actually securities and can only be sold by agents who hold a special type of broker’s license.

Attorneys

	Mr. Hugh D. Berkson Attorney Banking and Finance, Banking Law, Finance, Financial Services Law, Securities		Mr. Anthony J. Hartman Attorney Banking and Finance, Business and Industry, Ethics
	Mr. Jay H. Salamon Attorney Banking and Finance, Banking Law, Business and Industry, Finance, Financial Services Law

More Information on Stock Market Loss

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Hedge Fund Fraud Lawyers in Cleveland, Ohio
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Cleveland, OH Structured Products Lawyers
Investment Advisor Misconduct Attorneys in Cleveland, OH
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