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New Supreme Court term opens with Kagan aboard
Law Firm News |
2010/10/04 03:55
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pThe Supreme Court is starting its new term with a new justice, Elena Kagan, and bad news for hundreds of parties trying to get their cases heard at the nation's highest court./ppThe justices are expected to start work Monday by denying many of the nearly 2,000 appeals that piled up in recent months. The court also is hearing argument in a bankruptcy dispute and an appeal by criminal defendants seeking shorter prison terms./ppDuring the new term, the court will look at provocative anti-gay protests at military funerals and a California law banning the sale of violent video games to children. These cases worry free speech advocates, who fear the court could limit First Amendment freedoms./ppThe funeral protest lawsuit, over signs praising American war deaths, is one of those cases that tests our commitment to the First Amendment, said Steven Shapiro, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union./ppAnother case involves a different aspect of the First Amendment, the government's relationship to religion. The justices will decide whether Arizona's income tax credit scholarship program, in essence, directs state money to religious schools in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state./ppUnder Chief Justice John Roberts, marking his fifth anniversary on the court, and with the replacement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor by Justice Samuel Alito, the court has been more sympathetic to arguments that blur the line between government and religion, as long as one religion is not favored over another.
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Abraham, Fruchter Twersky, LLP
Law Firm News |
2010/09/27 04:35
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pAbraham, Fruchter amp; Twersky, LLP announces that it has been retained to file a class action law suit on behalf of purchasers of Duoyuan Printing, Inc.stock between November 6, 2009 through September 13, 2010, including purchasers of the Company's November 6, 2009 initial public offering of common stock. /ppThe Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, defendants failed to disclose (1) that the authenticity of certain of the Company's expenses related to advertising and tradeshow costs could not be verified; (2) that the Company had improper relationships with certain vendors and distributors; and (3) that the Company lacked adequate internal and financial controls. As a result, the Company's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. /ppOn September 13, 2010, Duoyuan Printing disclosed that the Company dismissed its independent registered public accounting firm, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu CPA Ltd., and was reorganizing its top management in connection with Duoyuan Printing's desire to resolve open issues and file our 10-K on a timely basis. Moreover, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and four members of the Company's Board of Directors resigned after the dismissal of Deloitte. In a reaction to the Company's revelations, Duoyuan Printing securities declined $3.60 or more than 54% and closed at $2.99 on September 13, 2010. /ppIf you purchased Duoyuan Printing common stock during the Class Period of November 6, 2009 through September 13, 2010, and you wish to serve as lead plaintiff in this action, you must move the Court no later than November 19, 2010. Any member of the proposed class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain a member of the proposed class. /ppIf you would like to discuss this action or if you have any questions concerning this notice or your rights as a potential class member or lead plaintiff, you may contact: Jack G. Fruchter or Arthur J. Chen of Abraham, Fruchter amp; Twersky, LLP at (800) 440-8986, or via e-mail at a href=mailto:info@aftlaw.comfont color=#000000info@aftlaw.com/font/a or a href=mailto:achen@aftlaw.comfont color=#000000achen@aftlaw.com/font/a. /ppAbraham, Fruchter amp; Twersky, LLP has extensive experience prosecuting securities class action cases, and the firm has been ranked among the leading class action law firms in terms of recoveries achieved by a survey of class action law firms conducted by Institutional Shareholder Services.
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Fraudulent Practices in the Sale of Indexed Annuities
Headline News |
2010/09/22 10:12
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pIf approached by your broker (or financial advisor or insurance agent) to purchase an indexed annuity there are some things an investor should consider.nbsp; First, an indexed annuity (also known as, equity-indexed annuity or fixed indexed annuity) is a fixed annuity, either immediate or deferred, that earns interest or provides benefits that are often linked to an equity or stock market index.nbsp; In 2008, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), an association of state insurance regulatory officials, issued a a href=http://www.insurance.illinois.gov/Life_Annuities/equityindex.asp target=_blankfont style=background-color: #fefceb color=#6a4b39buyers guide to indexed annuities/font/a, which provides educational information on indexed annuties.nbsp; Did your broker provide you with one?nbsp; The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) also published an a href=http://www.finra.org/investors/protectyourself/investoralerts/annuitiesandinsurance/p010614 target=_blankfont style=background-color: #fefceb color=#6a4b39investor alert/font/a on indexed annuities./ppUnscrupulous brokers take advantage of naïve, unsuspecting investors, especially seniors, and heavily pitch purchases into indexed annuities.nbsp; Often they will tout indexed annuities as being better than bank CDs and will convince investors to liquidate their CDs to buy an indexed annuity.nbsp; Investors with variable annuities are often approached by a broker to buy indexed annuities, touting them as being safer than then variable annuity, which has investment choices whose principal can be subject to market volatility.nbsp; Did the broker recommend you to consider moving money into the fixed account of the variable annuity?nbsp; If not, the broker is probably only motivated to earn a commission which can be as high as 5%.nbsp; Another fraudulent tactic is to entice an investor with an “upfront bonus” to buy an indexed annuity but what a devious broker may not tell you is that often you would have to annuitize the annuity in order to take advantage of the bonus benefit – it’s not free money, there’s a cost to every benefit in an annuity.nbsp; Other brokers may convince you that the annuity they sold you earlier is now out-of-date and try to sell you another annuity claiming to have “better and more features.”
a href=http://suemyadvisor.com/blog/investor-alerts/fraudulent-practices-indexed-annuities-61http://suemyadvisor.com/blog/investor-alerts/fraudulent-practices-indexed-annuities-61/a/p |
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American Bar Association Honors Philadelphia Firms
Legal Focuses |
2010/09/22 09:12
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| pThe American Bar Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project will acknowledge Philadelphia law firms Reed Smith LLP and Drinker Biddle amp; Reath LLP’s role in ground-breaking, pro bono litigation of capital punishment appeals with an Exceptional Service Award on Wednesday, Sept.22, 2010 in Houston. nbsp; /pp“There is no greater responsibility for an attorney than to defend a person whose life is at risk,” said ABA President Stephen N. Zack. “These firms are courageous, passionate and skilled advocates who are deeply committed to core principles of justice like due process and fairness, despite the demands of these cases.nbsp; They represent the best of our profession and make us proud.” nbsp; /ppDrinker Biddle amp; Reath partner and death penalty expert Lawrence Fox will accept the award at the 24th Anniversary and Volunteer Recognition Event in Houston, TX.nbsp; Fox is a renowned contributor to systemic defense reform.nbsp; He is recognized for his amicus filings, which were cited by New York University law professor Anthony Amsterdam in his letter nominating the firm for the award; for standards-writing; and as an expert witness. /ppReed Smith attorneys Christopher Walters and David Kochman will accept the award on behalf of their firm.nbsp; Reed Smith was nominated by the Southern Center for Human Rights and Equal Justice Initiative, which cited the firm’s leadership in four death row cases in Alabama in 2008.nbsp; Each of the four men were only weeks away from losing appeal rights due to lack of legal representation; and the death sentence in each case was imposed by a trial judge who overrode the jury’s decision to impose life without parole. /ppWith nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.nbsp; As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law./ppThis distribution list is a service to the news media from the American Bar Association Division for Media Relations and Communication Services.nbsp; Your e-mail address will only be used within the ABA and its entities.nbsp; We do not sell or rent e-mail addresses to anyone outside the ABA.nbsp; To change your e-mail listing or be removed from our distribution lists, please contact the Media Relations Department at 312/988-6171 or a href=mailto:abanews@abanet.orgabanews@abanet.org/a./ppTo review our privacy statement click here a href=http://www.abanet.org/privacy_statement.htmlhttp://www.abanet.org/privacy_statement.html/a/p |
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Penny Stock Risks – Caveat Emptor
Legal Interview |
2010/09/22 06:11
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The securities industry has tough rules when it comes to brokers soliciting the purchase of “penny stocks.”nbsp; Typically a stock is considered a “penny stock” when it trades for less than $5 a share and it does not trade on a major exchange (e.g., New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ).nbsp; Penny stocks normally trade on the OTC Bulletin Board (OTCBB) or Pink Sheets.nbsp;
Aside from the requirements, among others, that soliciting brokers have to supply investors with a document disclosing the risks associated with penny stocks and wait, in some cases, 2 days after providing the disclosure document before placing your first order (i.e., “speed bump”), there are actual disclosure ratings assigned to each penny stock.nbsp;
A market center called a href=http://www.otcmarkets.com/ target=_blankfont style=background-color: #fefceb color=#6a4b39OTC Markets/font/a places penny stocks into different a href=http://www.otcmarkets.com/otcguide/investors_market_tiers.jsp target=_blankfont style=background-color: #fefceb color=#6a4b39disclosure categories/font/a based on things from whether or not the company is current on its financial reporting to whether the stock is the subject of fraud or stock promotion.nbsp; Your broker and his brokerage firm and clearing firm have access to this information and so do you.nbsp; There are over 13,000 stocks having either the label of “Caveat Emptor,” “Grey Market,” or “Pink Sheets No Information.”nbsp; Have you bought a penny stock recommended by a stock broker that has one of those labels?nbsp; Did your broker disclose that to you? |
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Man who tried to fake death pleads guilty to fraud
Law Firm News |
2010/09/16 02:52
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pAn Indiana money manager who once led a high-flying lifestyle pleaded guilty to five securities fraud counts on Wednesday, nearly two years after he tried to fake his death in a Florida plane crash to escape the crush of financial and personal problems./ppMarcus Schrenker, 39, admitted the charges in a plea agreement under which he agreed to a 10-year prison sentence and prosecutors dropped four other charges. He also agreed to pay more than $600,000 in restitution. Prosecutors say he bilked friends, family members and other investors of more than $1 million./ppHe will remain in jail until his Oct. 7 sentencing, when Hamilton Superior Court Judge Steven Nation is expected to rule whether Schrenker serves the sentence at the same time as a federal sentence or afterward./ppSchrenker, shackled at his wrists and ankles and wearing an orange jail T-shirt emblazoned with Inmate 453 on its back in large black letters, told Nation he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and has taken medication for it since 1992./ppHis attorney, P. Chadwick Hill, said afterward that Schrenker didn't blame the disorder for his actions.
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