Announcements
Cosgrove Law, LLC attends SIFMA C&L's Regional Seminar
June 30, 2010 - Sheila Carroll and Mary Wolff attended the SIFMA C&L Regional Seminar in St. Louis, MO on June 30th. The seminar's focus was on the upcoming changes for the compliance and legal departments in the securities community. Some of the many topics discussed by the panelists were regulatory enforcement, complaint resolution techniques, the future of mandatory arbitration clauses, changes in FINRA arbitration, new SEC initiatives, and of course the pending financial reform bill. David Massey, NASAA's president-elect and North Carolina's Deputy Securities Administrator, was the key note speaker and the featured lunch speaker was Ms. Hillary A. Sale from Washington University's School of Law. The seminar provided detailed information for the attendees and covered a variety of viewpoints on each matter discussed. Part of SIFMA C&L's mission is to work to facilitate communication between the industry and the regulatory community on key issues. As a firm dedicated to providing our clients with proactive solutions in the ever changing regulatory environment, we enjoyed the opportunity to attend a seminar dedicated to discussing current topics and offering valuable resources to the attendees. Stay tuned to our blog where we will be posting more details about the topics discussed at the seminar.
Cosgrove Law, LLC attorneys are invited to be guest bloggers for The National Law Review
June 28, 2010 - David Cosgrove, Richard Worth and Kurt Schafers have been invited to contribute to The National Law Review as guest bloggers. The guest blogs will be published this week and the week of July 19th on The National Law Review's website and will address current topics relating to the securities industry. All three attorneys have experience in securities litigation and arbitration and regularly blog on Cosgrove Law, LLC's Securities and Investment Blog, providing valuable insight into current events in the securities industry and securities regulation areas. We are honored that our attorneys have been selected to contribute to The National Law Review, which compiles timely articles from law reviews, law journals, law firm newsletters, and other professional publications on a variety of topics.
Cosgrove Law, LLC Takes Action Against Walnut Street Securities
May 18, 2010 - Cosgrove Law, LLC recently filed a lawsuit in St. Louis County, Missouri against Walnut Street Securities ("Walnut Street"), MetLife Securities, Inc. (“MetLife”) who wholly owns Walnut Street, and one of its investment advisers, Mr. Seth Brown, for various alleged violations of the Missouri statutes in relation to their account management of one of Walnut Street’s clients. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, deceptive business practices, fraud and negligence by all three named defendants.
Cosgrove Law, LLC specifically alleges that Mr. Brown, in performing his duties as an agent of Walnut Street and MetLife, made numerous misrepresentations and omissions to the client and on Walnut Street documents while he was selling the elderly client long-term investment products. The lawsuit also alleges Mr. Brown was negligent when he recommended the use of qualified funds to purchase a variable annuity before those qualified funds were available for such use as required by Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) Section 408(d)(3)(B). Based upon Mr. Brown's poor recommendation, the client was required to pay over $80,000 in taxes last year. The lawsuit also alleges the client suffered losses in his account and in surrender fees due to Mr. Brown's negligent advice and fraudulent omissions of material facts.
Cosgrove Law, LLC obtains MC 400 approval for client
Cosgrove Law, LLC recently obtained FINRA approval of an MC 400 application for one of it's clients. The MC 400 application seeks FINRA approval for a statutorily disqualified person to associate with a Broker-Dealer so that the individual may offer commission based products to his or her clients. The Broker-Dealer which the disqualified individual wishes to associate with must initiate the application process. The arduous MC-400 process seeks approval for the terms and conditions of the proposed association, with special emphasis on the proposed supervision to be accorded the disqualified individual. Cosgrove Law, LLC represented the disqualified individual in this matter and successfully argued for the approval of the application in October of last year before a neutral board of FINRA members.
Cosgrove Law, LLC's Mary Wolff earns MBA in finance
May 15, 2010 - Cosgrove Law, LLC is proud to announce that Mary Wolff has been awarded her Master of Business Administration in Finance from St. Louis University. Mary graduated cum laude on May 15, 2010. She will continue her education at St. Louis University until December of this year, when she will graduate with her Juris Doctorate.
Mary received her Bachelor of Science degree in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management from Illinois State University. As Cosgrove Law, LLC's law clerk, she focuses on federal and state securities and commodities research.
David B. Cosgrove Named to Exclusive Membership Organization
-- David B. Cosgrove celebrates 20 years in the field of law --
February 18th, 2010 - David B. Cosgrove, Managing Partner of Cosgrove Law, L.L.C., has been recognized by Cambridge Who's Who for demonstrating dedication, leadership and excellence in legal services.
With 20 years of professional experience, Mr. Cosgrove specializes in litigation, securities enforcement and white collar defense. He manages the law firm of four attorneys and two paralegals, represents businesses, corporate officers and individuals facing civil, criminal or administrative enforcement, offers compliance counseling, and represents national brokerage companies, investment advisors and defrauded investors and consumers.
Prior to attaining his role with Cosgrove Law, L.L.C., he held numerous positions, including Commissioner of Securities for the State of Missouri, Chief Legal Counsel of The Office of the Governor of Missouri, Chief Consumer Protection Prosecutor of Massachusetts Attorney General Office and Special Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Department of Justice, District of Massachusetts.
Mr. Cosgrove received his JD in 1990 and his Bachelor's Degree in Economics in 1987, both from Notre Dame University. He is a member of the Missouri Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He was honored for his accomplishments with the Lon O. Hocker Trial Attorney Award and the Legislative Award, both from the Missouri Bar Association. He attributes his success to his diverse experience and talented mentors.
Congratulations, Mr. Cosgrove, on your 20 year anniversary of practicing law and on being a leader in your field. Your commitment to the profession and to your clients is greatly admired.
About Cambridge Who's Who - Cambridge Who's Who is an exclusive membership organization that recognizes and empowers executives, professionals and entrepreneurs throughout the world. From healthcare to law, engineering to finance, manufacturing to education, every major industry is represented by its 400,000 active members.
Cosgrove Law, LLC Takes Action Against MetLife Securities
Cosgrove Law, LLC recently filed a FINRA arbitration action against MetLife Securities, Inc. (“MetLife”) and one of its investment advisers, Mr. George Teng, for various securities violations in relation to their account management of one of MetLife’s clients. The arbitration claim alleges, among other things, unsuitability, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, unauthorized trading, deceptive business practices and failure to supervise.
Cosgrove Law, LLC specifically alleges that Mr. Teng, in performing his duties as an agent of MetLife, made unsuitable and unauthorized investments in light of his client’s delicate financial situation by placing the client’s accounts in substantially more aggressive asset allocation plans than he was authorized to place them in. The arbitration claim also alleges that Mr. Teng made numerous fraudulent and negligent misrepresentations and omissions. In addition, despite clear knowledge of his client’s financial situation, Mr. Teng purportedly switched all of his client’s annuity money from two mature annuities into a new long-term annuity after the death of the client’s mother. The annuity had a seven year amortization schedule, thus eliminating the client’s ability to freely withdraw her much-needed money from the annuity. The arbitration claim also alleges that Mr. Teng did not act in his client’s best interests in that he failed to consider her delicate financial situation and her corresponding needs. In that respect, Cosgrove Law, LLC asserts that Mr. Teng breached his fiduciary duty and violated FINRA’s know-your-customer rule.
Mr. Teng’s alleged wrongful conduct caused his client to lose nearly 25 percent of the value of her annuities in one year. In addition, the client was prematurely forced to pay substantial income taxes and penalties as a result of Mr. Teng’s unauthorized account transactions. Notably, Mr. Teng’s CRD report indicates that he has previously been the subject of complaints strikingly similar to those alleged by Cosgrove Law, LLC in its arbitration claim. We will keep you updated as this arbitration proceeding progresses.
Cosgrove Law, LLC Welcomes Kurt J. Schafers
September 17th, 2009 - Cosgrove Law, LLC is proud to announce the addition of Kurt J. Schafers to our firm. Prior to joining Cosgrove Law, LLC, Mr. Schafers worked at Husch, Blackwell Sanders in St. Louis for several years where his practice focused on commercial litigation, products liability and toxic torts, as well as real estate litigation. Mr. Schafers has represented Fortune 500 companies and other business entities in state and federal courts and in arbitration proceedings throughout the United States.
Mr. Schafers received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with a minor in Economics from Truman State University, cum laude. He received his law degree from St. Louis University School of Law, cum laude. During law school, Mr. Schafers received an Academic Excellence Award and served as a Notes and Comments Editor for the Public Law Review. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Schafers worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Mr. Schafers is licensed in both Missouri and Illinois, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.
Cosgrove Law, LLC Welcomes Former Securities Regulator, Lori Neidel
August 28th, 2009 - Cosgrove Law, LLC is proud to announce the addition of Lori Neidel to our firm. Lori previously held the position of Chief Enforcement Counsel for the Missouri Secretary of State's Securities Division. She received her Certified Regulatory and Compliance Professional certificate from the FINRA Institute at Wharton earlier this year. Lori graduated cum laude with her Juris Doctorate from St. Louis University in 1995. Lori worked as an Investment Advisor prior to her career as an attorney. Lori's regulatory and industry experience and her education will be a tremendous asset to our firm.
St. Louis Daily Record Reports on Client’s Lawsuit
July 8th, 2009 - The St. Louis Daily Record (“The Record”) headlined their July 8, 2009 paper with a story covering a recent lawsuit Cosgrove Law, LLC filed in the St. Louis County Circuit Court on behalf of our client, The Estate of Steven Bonifer. The Record examined the lawsuit filed against Steven Dioneda of Kullman, Klein & Dioneda and Wal-Mart which alleges legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty against Dioneda and negligence and unlawful merchandising against Wal-Mart.
Mr. Bonifer was involved in a claim against Wal-Mart at the time of his death, which was caused by ethylene glycol toxicity (or antifreeze poisoning), for an accident that occurred in a Wal-Mart store. Mr. Bonifer suffered greatly for the last two years of his life and incurred over $83,000 in medical bills due to the accident. Kullman, Klein & Dioneda, who represented Mr. Bonifer at the time of his death, purported to settle the matter with Wal-Mart for $35,000 after Mr. Bonifer’s death, but prior to his Estate being opened. Mr. Bonifer’s Estate, with the help of Cosgrove Law, LLC, is now pursuing justice for Mr. Bonifer and his Estate.
David B. Cosgrove Authors Article for the July/August 2009 Issue of the Journal of the Missouri Bar
June 19th, 2009 - Attorney David B. Cosgrove's article “Take Heed If Your Clients Are Buying or Selling Annuities: 2009 Brings More Regulatory and Product Changes” will be published in the July/August 2009 issue of the Journal of the Missouri Bar. The article provides an informative look at the ever-changing regulatory landscape as it relates to annuity products and explores the responsibilities a fiduciary has when selling these products to their clients.
http://www.mobar.org/fea247a1-5538-41f1-95ac-2af79e51e1fc.aspx
Cosgrove Law, LLC Successfully Litigates Constitutional Law Claim Against the State of Missouri
June 15th, 2009 - Cosgrove law, LLC successfully litigated a constitutional law claim for a violation of free speech for our client in his lawsuit against the State of Missouri. Cosgrove Law, LLC partnered with The Slusher Law Firm in Columbia, Missouri and worked tirelessly to defend our client's First Amendment rights. The case was settled recently by the State while under review in the Federal Appeals Court.
Please refer to the link below for more detail:
http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2009/06/13/news_state/201state21kniest.txt