Representing financial professionals, financial institutions and investors in investment loss, employment and disclosure matters, and in regulatory investigations.
Representing financial professionals, financial institutions and investors in investment loss, employment and disclosure matters, and in regulatory investigations.
Financial Professionals
Financial Institutions
Individual Investors
Unsurpassed Industry Experience
From our office in Chicago, Illinois, the attorneys at Lewitas Hyman have unsurpassed experience with financial services matters gathered from over 55 collective years of advocating on behalf of financial advisors, other financial professionals, the world’s largest financial institutions and investors.
Our top-tier lawyers’ experience derives from working as senior enforcement attorneys at the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, in senior in-house counsel and business positions at Morgan Stanley, UBS Financial Services and EVEREN Securities, and as attorneys at the world’s largest law firms. Our core values include putting the client first and providing cost-effective counsel coupled with professional and aggressive advocacy.
Our attorneys know the ins and outs of the financial services industry. We are regularly retained to provide counsel on, and when necessary handle litigation and arbitration relating to, a wide array of matters impacting the financial services industry:
- Investment losses caused by alleged financial advisor misconduct
- Investment losses caused by alleged securities fraud and Ponzi schemes
- Margin account losses
- Wrongful termination, defamation and other employment matters
- FINRA, SEC, State and CFP Board investigations and regulatory compliance
- CRD, Form U4, Form U5 and Form ADV disclosures
- Expungement of CRD, Form U4 and Form U5 disclosures
- Promissory and forgivable notes
- Deferred compensation
- Financial advisor and team transitions (protocol and non-protocol)
- Non-competes, non-solicitations and garden leaves
- RIA formation and compliance
Representing Financial Professionals • Representing Financial Institutions • Representing Investors
Representing You
FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS
We counsel financial advisors, registered representatives, financial planners and other financial professionals on employment-related matters, including CRD, Form U4/U5 and Form ADV disclosures, expungement, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, firm transitions, deferred compensation, non-competes, non-solicitations, garden leaves, promissory and forgivable note obligations, and regulatory investigations involving the SEC, FINRA, State, other SRO regulators and the CFP Board.
FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
We represent financial institutions in litigation and generally advise on employment matters, financial advisor transitions, Form U4/U5 and Form ADV disclosures, customer claims involving alleged investment losses and other misconduct, promissory and forgivable notes, and investigations involving the SEC, FINRA, State, other SRO regulators and the CFP Board. We also are frequently engaged to provide compliance-related advice, trade reviews and to conduct internal investigations.
INDIVIDUAL INVESTORS
We advocate for investors who suffered losses due to the misconduct of financial advisors, firms, and other professionals who recommended unsuitable investments and trading strategies, breached contractual and fiduciary duties, perpetuated Ponzi schemes, or engaged in fraud, theft, churning, unauthorized trading, overconcentration, financial abuse of seniors, and other forms of improper account management.
Chicago Securities Law Blog
LATEST NEWS:
CFP Board Begins Enforcing New Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct
The CFP Board has begun to enforce its updated Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct (“Code of Ethics and Standards”) that went into effect on October 1, 2019. The new Code of Ethics and Standards is the culmination of five years of work by the CFP Board to modernize the required standards of CFP professionals and to strengthen its enforcement program. The CFP Board also adopted new Procedural Rules that update and streamline the process for enforcement matters resulting from potential...
Bruce Lewitas
Over the past 30 years, Bruce Lewitas has served as an enforcement attorney for the SEC, a senior member of Morgan Stanley’s legal department and as a shareholder in a large international law firm. Throughout his career, Bruce has litigated the spectrum of broker-dealer and investment advisor matters, representing both individuals and firms of all sizes in customer and employment matters. His record is exemplary, having overseen thousands of matters to a successful resolution. Bruce’s philosophy is to provide superior client service while working respectfully and professionally with adversaries to obtain the optimal result for his clients.
Douglas W. Hyman
Doug Hyman has spent his entire 25-year career advocating for clients in the financial services industry. Doug’s diversified legal and business experience comes from years of advising clients as a senior enforcement attorney at the SEC, as in-house counsel at Morgan Stanley, as a financial advisor at UBS and through his representation of thousands of clients in private practice. His extensive experience includes handling numerous financial services matters to trial before various types of arbitration panels and in courts nationwide.