The SEC Orders Payment of $4.4 Million After Firm's Whistleblower Client Reports Securities Fraud | |
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The SEC recently announced civil charges against ETF Managers Group, LLC (“ETFMG”) and its founder Samuel Masucci. The charges arise from ETFMG and Masucci’s mismanagement of an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) and misleading the fund’s trustees in order to obtain rescue financing. The investigation resulted in $4.4 million in civil penalties against ETFMG and Masucci. Lauren Johnson of Rabin Kammerer Johnson represents a whistleblower who reported the fraud to the SEC and assisted with its investigation. To read more about the case, click here.
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Firm Wins Trial to Enforce Client's Loan, Defeating Borrower's Defense of Commercial Frustration | |
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Adam Rabin and Havan Clark represented firm client, Steve Earsley (“Plaintiff”), who recently prevailed at trial in a case styled Steve Earsley v. Joseph A. Petri, Case No. 20-6949, in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, Florida. Plaintiff was an investor in a privately owned substance abuse treatment center in Palm Beach County, who made a personal loan to the center’s CEO. The purpose of the loan was to assist the CEO in funding a capital contribution that would help avoid dilution of his membership interest in the center when it began bringing in new investors to stay financially afloat.
After a two-day bench trial, Fifteenth Judicial Circuit Judge Richard L. Oftedal rejected Defendant’s commercial frustration defense and entered final judgment for Plaintiff in the amount of $337,938.41, including principal and prejudgment interest. To read more about the case, click here.
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Check Out Our New Firm Website! | |
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Check out our fresh new look at www.ComplexBusinessLitigation.com. Our redesigned firm website highlights our three primary practice areas of complex business litigation, whistleblower-qui tam litigation, and securities arbitration and litigation. The new site is easier to navigate and browse our firm’s attorneys, RKJ news and wins, and our business, whistleblower, and securities blogs.
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Firm's Whistleblower Retaliation
Case Featured in Law360
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RKJ attorneys Adam Rabin and Havan Clark, together with co-counsel Cathleen Scott, recently prevailed in defeating defendants’ motions to dismiss on behalf of their client, a physician, in a federal False Claims Act retaliation case filed pursuant to 31 U.S.C. § 3730(h). The physician client alleged that the defendants, a provider organization and an affiliated managed care organization, terminated him for refusing to “play ball” by documenting false diagnoses in patient records that would fraudulently inflate Medicare capitated payouts. After the oral argument, the court issued a 19-page order denying defendants’ motions, which was featured in Law360.
To read the Law360 article, click here.
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RKJ Prevails on Summary Judgment for Client on Competitor’s Claim for Tortious Interference | |
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The firm recently prevailed in obtaining summary judgment for the firm’s client on a competitor’s remaining claim for tortious interference with advantageous business relationships. The firm’s client (“Client”) is an ERISA plan fiduciary and third-party administrator for employer retirement plans. In 2020, after the Client refused to enter a non-compete agreement with the competitor, the competitor filed two separate actions against the Client for allegedly causing two of the competitor’s customers to stop doing business with the competitor. The parent company for the competitor also bought a minority interest in the Client from another minority shareholder and filed a third lawsuit against the Client for corporation dissolution and related claims. By securing summary judgment for the Client on the competitor’s tortious interference claim, the firm has put one of the competitor’s lawsuits to rest.
Attorneys Adam Rabin, Lauren Johnson, and Andrew Abreu, together with co-counsel Todd Kurland, represented the defendants. To read more about the case, click here.
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Can a Whistleblower Receive Credit for Reporting Fraud When the Information Already Has Been Made Public? | |
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by Andrew Abreu
What is the impact of a whistleblower reporting a tip or information to the U.S. Government that already has been publicly disclosed? In 1986, Congress amended the federal False Claims Act ("FCA") by adding the public disclosure bar as a defense. Congress enacted this bar with the goal of balancing the prevention of parasitic actions based on publicly available information and encouraging individuals to file qui tam actions. The amended version of the public disclosure bar narrows the information on which a whistleblower may rely in bringing a qui tam claim under the FCA.
To read more about the history and evolution of the public disclosure bar under the FCA, click here.
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Are Unsolicited Marketing Calls and Text Messages Illegal in Florida?
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Florida has specific laws related to how businesses can promote their goods and services through telephone or text-message marketing to Florida consumers. These laws are referred to as the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (“FTSA”). The Florida Legislature, however, recently amended the FTSA to curb the flood of litigation that resulted from its implementation.
In general, the FTSA prohibits businesses from making marketing calls and sending marketing text messages with an “automated system” without the “prior expressed written consent” of the called party. But the prior version of the statute spurred overwhelming amounts of litigation due to its broad applicability.
To read more about Florida law on this issue, click here.
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What Privileges Will Defeat a
Plaintiff's Claim for Interference?
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Florida law recognizes claims for both tortious interference with a business relationship and tortious interference with a contractual relationship. These claims commonly arise in the business context when an outside business unjustifiably interferes with another business’ contract or business relationship with a third party. Florida law recognizes two privileges in defense of a tortious interference claim: competition privilege and protection privilege. These privileges act as affirmative defenses to a tortious interference claim, and the business-defendant bears the burden of proving their applicability.
To read more about available privilege defenses to claims of tortious interference claims, click here.
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Rabin Kammerer Johnson | 561-659-7878 |
1601 Forum Place, Suite 201, West Palm Beach, Florida 33401 |
www.ComplexBusinessLitigation.com
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