The attorney
Championing the rights of investors since 1986 — in arbitration, in federal court, in print, and once or twice on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
I have been representing investors and stockbrokers with claims against their brokerage firms for more than thirty years. From the outset I became active in championing the rights of investors — publishing articles to make securities arbitrations fairer, and co-authoring a book to educate the public on the behind-the-scenes activities of brokerage firms.
I have represented thousands of individuals who were wronged by their brokerage firms. I secured some of the largest securities arbitration recoveries from Prudential Securities, PaineWebber, and Raymond James — and I also handle significantly smaller cases. The firms I sue regularly today: Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Ameritrade, J.P. Morgan.
One thing distinguishes me from every one of my peers: my securities expert witness lives in my house. He is my husband, Douglas J. Schulz — one of the highest-paid securities experts in the country. Lawyers are trained in law, not securities; having an expert available around the clock is invaluable. Though I use independent experts for the arbitration hearings themselves, when Doug assists on my cases, he charges nothing.
Decades of experience on the investors’ side, a stint deciding cases as an arbitrator and a judge, and a securities expert across the dinner table — that is what I bring to a hearing room.
I take cases on an hourly basis or a contingent-fee basis, and I will agree to unique hybrid arrangements to accommodate the needs of the client. I also represent stockbrokers who have claims against their own firms — wrongful termination, and defamation on the U-4/U-5 regulatory forms.
Featured cases & matters
Kramer v. Smith Barney Shearson, Inc., 80 F.3d 1080 (5th Cir. 1996)
First case in Texas/Federal court to hold that the NASD (now FINRA) six-year eligibility rule can be extended by proof of ongoing fraud or concealment. A victory for all investors, because brokerage firms always claim — even to this day — that the occurrence giving rise to the claim equals the date of the investments. That interpretation is not supported by many courts.
Smith Barney Shearson, Inc. v. Boone, 838 F. Supp. 1156 (N.D. Tex. 1993), aff'd 47 F.3d 750 (5th Cir. 1995)
The federal court held that questions as to timeliness of a claim are procedural issues for arbitral, not judicial, determination — and that although the last disputed purchase took place more than six years before the arbitration claim was filed, it could not be said with confidence that claims were time-barred without forbidden judicial inquiry into the underlying merits.
McPhatter v. Salomon Smith Barney, 2005 WL 3150245 (M.D.N.C. 2005)
Represented 40+ former Bellsouth employees in Charlotte, North Carolina in a class action against Salomon Smith Barney, whose brokers had put on seminars convincing workers to take early retirement on promises of 12% returns, then invested far too aggressively. The case settled for a sum that is confidential.
Off the clock
Home is a 160-acre ranch in the Sangre de Cristo mountains outside Westcliffe, Colorado, bordering national forest. Doug and I have spent years on a professional forest-thinning project for fire mitigation — work featured in a University of Colorado documentary on sustainable forests.
The other passion is animals: four decades of supporting rescue organizations, including Best Friends Animal Society and Wet Mountain Wildlife Rehabilitation. We funded “Bear Haven,” an enclosure where orphaned bear cubs grow up wild before release — and our malamutes supervise the ranch.
Your move
Tell me what happened. I will tell you honestly whether you have a case worth pursuing — and every way I can be paid, including contingency: nothing unless you recover.