Financial Loss Recovery Group - Article 1

Leveling the Playing Field

The institution where your financial advisor works has $billions. You have just lost all or most of your retirement nest egg. How can you take on big banks, insurers, mutual fund dealers and their advisors? You trusted your financial advisor, who betrayed your trust. You have nothing left to gamble on an uncertain outcome, and you are petrified of the risk of pursuing a law case in court. Can you trust your lawyer to provide a better outcome than did your financial advisor?

As with any other profession, lawyers concentrate on different areas of practice. If the lawyer is knowledgeable about the complex affairs of financial advisors, and has access to expert advice in the field of investment analysis, then the lawyer can help you assess your chances of success. The lawyer’s expertise levels the playing field. The financial institution has to assess its chances of success, and if your claim has merit – and is seen to have merit because of good presentation - the financial institution will, ultimately, try to settle the case.

It is clear based upon the events of the past 10 years that the financial advisory industry in Canada is prepared to go to great lengths to defend their advisors and to reduce or discourage claims made by suffering investors. They will deny claims as they are brought to their attention. They will deny claims presented to the ombudsman department within their own institution (which are not independent and offer no degree of confidentiality). They will deny claims that are presented through the OBSI. They will deny claims presented in court and force the investor to present their case at great expense.

Few lawyers take these cases on contingency, in which they undertake the cost of presenting the claim against a percentage of the sum recouped from the financial advisor. In our case, we perform initial analysis of the claim for a fixed fee, usually between $2,500 and $10,000, depending on the complexity, and we then provide the opinion and analysis to equip the client to decide whether the risks are worth the potential benefits. If we determine that the benefits outweigh the risks, we will recommend and undertake a contingency retainer.

Once the client makes the decision to pursue compensation, the merits of the client's case can outweigh the resources of the financial advisor - and that is the ultimate level playing field.

For assistance with your case, please contact John Hollander or Harold Geller at the Financial Loss Recovery Group of Doucet McBride LLP.

Back to Financial Loss Recovery Group Main Page