Case study

Fifth Circuit Victory in $9 Million Arbitration Case

October 23, 2012 Case Study

Morgan Keegan & Co. v. Garrett

On October 23, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit handed down a victory for the firm’s clients in an arbitration case.

The dispute involved some individual investors who had lost a large amount of money in bond mutual funds that turned out to hold very risky securities. The investors took their case to FINRA arbitration, where they won a judgment against Morgan Keegan for about $9.2 million. But Morgan Keegan persuaded a federal district judge to set aside the result on the ground that the investors’ damage expert had supposedly committed fraud on the witness stand. The investors appealed to the Fifth Circuit. At this point, the firm’s appellate section was brought in to help prosecute the appeal.

The Fifth Circuit swiftly and resoundingly rejected the claim of fraud. The court overturned the district court’s ruling and ordered reinstatement of the arbitration victory.

The Beck Redden team consisted of appellate partner David M. Gunn and former partner Chad Flores. They worked on the appeal with a team from Dobrowski, Larkin & Johnson, LLP, consisting of Paul Dobrowski, Jeff Alexander, Bruce Kemp, and Cody Stafford.

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David M. Gunn 713.951.6290
Appellate