Soreide Law Group has filed a FINRA arbitration on behalf of their clients (Claimants) against the firm:
J.J.B. HILLIARD, W.L. LYONS, LLC (Respondent)
The Claimants, are members of the same family, who all had John Dunn Gordinier II, (“Gordinier”), CRD# 2363965, a registered representative of HILLIARD LYONS, as their representative for all accounts at issue. Gordinier is not named in this lawsuit.
One of the Claimants, a retiree living off social security and with no investment experience, had her account coded for “Growth & Income” and her portfolio consisted of approximately: $75k in Linn Energy, $5k in Linnco, $130k in Vanguard Natural Resources, $252k in Breitburn Energy, and $8k in LRR Energy. Her concentration was 99% high risk in highly leveraged oil stocks with the exception of one investment in Gladstone Investment Corp for $775.99. The lawsuit alleges that this account was unsuitable for a retiree. On or about April 2016, long after HILLIARD LYONS had allegedly lost the majority of the Claimant’s retirement funds, the Respondent sent a letter to the Claimant advising her that they decided to change her investment objectives to “Speculation,” allegedly to justify their investment decisions for her. This letter was allegedly sent by the Respondents just one month before Breitburn went bankrupt of which the Respondent still had recommended that position as a “buy” to their clients, even their retiree clientele.
Another Claimant is a 50 year-old who also maintained an account with broker, Gordinier. This Claimant was coded for “Income with Occasional Speculation.” With her portfolio consisting of: Linnco, Breitburn, LRR Energy and Vanguard Natural Resources. This Claimant has also suffered devastating losses of at least $60,000 which was her total retirement savings, and now as a single mother still working, her retirement plans have been devastated.
The other two Claimants in the lawsuit are a married couple, and still working. Despite the different investment objectives and account profiles of all of the Claimants, each account held relatively the same over concentrated oil investments. As the oil stocks were crashing down, allegedly the Claimants approached Gordinier multiple times to discuss if they should exit the positions and Gordinier shared the Respondent’s own proprietary research and analysis in these now bankrupt positions that had all the stocks as a “buy”. In fact, the Claimant alleges being persuaded to not sell Breitburn at a $1 because HILLIARD LYONS analyst had it at a “buy” with a price target of $10. Gordinier allegedly supported HILLIARD LYONS analyst and recommended to the Claimants to hold and reaffirmed his belief that the stocks were all going to bounce back in short order.
The lawsuit alleges that HILLIARD LYONS and their representative’s actions have caused Claimants damages of approximately $500,000.00.
The lawsuit is alleging: negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent supervision and breach of contract.
HILLIARD LYONS and their agent, John Gordinier, deny the allegations in the lawsuit and we expect the case to go to final hearing before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) by the fall of 2018.
If you are/were a client of HILLIARD LYONS and/or their registered representative, John Dunn Gordinier II, and suffered losses due to the actions or recommendations, particularly in high risk energy stocks, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at: 888-760-6552.
Soreide Law Group operates on a contingency fee basis, no fee to you if no recovery. We represent our clients nationwide before FINRA.