AG Edwards Settlement has Plaintiffs Ticked Off
March 29th, 2010. By AbiK
And I have to say, I’d be ticked too.
Plaintiffs got a little gift in their mailboxes last week: they received notice of the proposed settlement from the AG Edwards class action. Guess how much some plaintiffs are receiving? The initial report of the proposed settlement put the average payout at $20-25 customer. One commenter at LawyersAndSettlements.com quotes his notice as saying he’ll receive $20.42. You can read the notice yourself at agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com. (Note the name change of the website—prior to the proposed settlement, the site was agedwardsclassaction.com; the URL has been updated to reflect that the case now has a propsed settlement.)
Keep in mind, if you’ve read the comments that came flowing in from our post on where the AG Edwards class action suit was heading, many of the Class Members claim they lost their “life savings” compliments of AG Edwards. And remember, this was back during a class period of 2000 – 2005—not post-2008 when we all saw our savings take a dive.
The AG Edwards class action had been brought against the brokerage firm in 2005 claiming that AG Edwards breached its fiduciary duties to the Plaintiffs (folks who owned AG Edwards accounts) and that AG Edwards was “unjustly enriched by receiving millions of dollars in improper payments from mutual fund companies whose funds were held by Plaintiffs“. The Class Period had covered five years—and getting to a proposed settlement then took five years.
That’s a long time to wait for some resolution and ideally, restitution.
Another aspect of the proposed settlement is what the lawyers’ take will be. Apparently it’s $21 million—plus $600,000 in expenses. That’s 35% of the total proposed settlement of $60 million—and an average of approximately $12.91 per eligible AG Edwards brokerage account for Class Members.
Additionally, to put this in perspective, of that $60 million, $6 million is actually going to be paid out to the settlement class of about 294,000 former AG Edwards account holders (that’s the $20.42 from above)—and the rest? That’s roughly $34 million if you back out the lawyers’ fees—that’s going to be doled out as vouchers for current clients to use on broker fees in future stock purchases. Note, the vouchers go to potentially 1.38 million current customers and each voucher is valued at $24.65. Woohoo!
Before you get too excited about that $24.65, note that the voucher will not be one voucher, but three–each valued at one-third of the voucher total; and you’ll only be able to use them on a set schedule over a three-year period (i.e., one voucher’s for the first year after vouchers have been distributed, one is for the second year afer…you get it). Again, all this info is at agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com.
Now, ordinarily I try to bring some perspective to those of you out there who get all riled up at the size of the attorneys’ fees that are awarded in class action settlements. Typically, you’ve got multi-year litigation and several law firms involved—each of whom have a cadre of attorneys, paralegals, admin staff, etc and travel and overhead that needs to be covered; and the law firms have to lay out the cash (translation, work without getting a dime in income) for two, three…five years until a case settles. A few million dollars in some instances doesn’t even begin to cover the expenses that have been laid out by the firms involved.
However, in this instance, where you’ve got Class Members who are—in many instances—older, retired or now near retirement who lost damn near everything they had and now find themselves receiving the equivalent of some family meal deal at Boston Market, well… It’s not a question of whether the attorneys deserve the money, it’s a question of proportion: 35% to the lawyers, 10% to the plaintiffs—who without, the lawyers would not have their 35% and who without AG Edwards would not have some of its millions.
If you’re a class member and received your notice, you do have the option to file an objection—by April 29, 2010. To object, you need to write a letter stating that you object to the proposed settlement and state your reasons for objecting. Include your name, address, telephone number and signature. The addresses where you have to send the letter are listed on page five of the notice of proposed settlement (see agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com). You may also—at your own expense—show up at the Settlement Fairness Hearing—and be heard, witnesses, evidence and all—but if you plan to go that route, get a lawyer to represent you and you’ll need to ensure that any witnesses you plan to call upon and/or any exhibits you have as evidence are identified in your letter of objection.
The AG Edwards Settlement Fairness Hearing will be held on May 14, 2010 at 9:30 a.m., central time at the St. Louis City Circuit Court, Civil Courts Building, 10 North Tucker Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63101-2044.
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This settlement is not fair to investors. Attorneys should not be entitled to more than 20%. Can we get a group of investors who feel they are wronged and start a suit of our own?
I vehemently object to the proposed settlement in the referenced case. I fail to see why the plantiffs’ lawyers should be paid more than 35% of the settlement amount. I fail to see how the legal firms representing the plantiffs could have amassed that many hours of work in filing and pursuing this suit. By my calculations, the amount paid to the law firm would represent 114 years of work for one person charging at $100/hr. If ten people worked on this project full time charging at $100/hr it would represent 11.4 years of work. I would think a more reasonable charge might be $4 to 5 million.
Hi Scott, Thanks for your comment–you're certainly not alone in your opinion on this one. While I agree with you in principle, there were something like 15+ law firms involved with the AG Edwards class action, and obviously multiple lawyers etc from each firm. But I hear where you're coming from. And heck, if you object–make it known–not just here but officially by writing a letter (see agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com for info); while a lot of focus on this settlement is placed on the lawyers' fees, it's the juxtaposition of those fees vs what the payout to Plaintiffs is–$20 (plus some loose change) that's really worth some outrage–irrespective of what the lawyers get, $20 isn't quite going to help those who say they lost their life savings…
Whoever initiated this class action lawsuit simply got the best of everyone. I had no idea what the settlement would be, but if there's been attorneys involved, i am sure they made out like bandits.
I find it absurd that we deal with the level of shrewdness on the part of attorneys. I find it as repulsive as what A.G Edwards may have done.
I am tired of dealing with the law. It's no longer based on the premise of ethics and justice, but rather how the attorneys can hand feed the courts – judges to appease their monetary gains.
I lost more than 60% of what I was planning on having for retirement. My AG Edwards broker was going through "personal" issues of his own and I was reassured by the head honcho of the AG Edwards branch that I was dealing with the best of the best.
I admit, I'm too trusting and ignorant of investing, but that's why I put my $$$ with them. I doubt I will ever truly see retirement…my funds have NEVER come close to the original amount I had…and now I MIGHT get close to $75.
Hey guys, do you think we should donate our $20 to the lawyers for doing such a fine job of getting all our lost cash back and assuring that justice was done?
If only we could use our settlement to,as Shakespear said,"kill all the lawyers" BF
Are you kidding me? I guess they think we were born yesterday!!!
What I find both interesting and annoying, is that when I did a search for agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com all I got was this website! I did read it and found the info. helpful, but why can't I get to the above mentioned site? I received the correspondence last week, and took the address right from page 6. I am a former AG Edwards account holder, did not have a problem while with them, and was surprised when I got this paperwork. Thanks all!
Hi Mary Lou, I just tried the site: agedwardsclassactionsettlement.com and it worked for me; when you get the the page, it will look like a document–not like a "normal" website, and there are links throughout. Try it again… – Abi
Many good points. Please take the time to write-in your objections before the deadline of Apr. 29th to the court and counsel indicated in item 16 of the notice. I certainly am. The more voices that are heard by the court perhaps the judge can affect some changes in the terms and plan of allocation.
Sue the Bastards, [ a comment taken from a Savannah Ga., Lawyers web site; sue the lawyers, the judges [ Title 42 – 185 might apply ] who do have the option to refuse the legal fees for lawyers, in every case, and of course file your own case, butt good luck finding an honest, hardworking lawyer?? Seek a jury trial, and do your home work if you plan on using a lawyer, they almost all stink, and you need to be in their face constantly, or as the saying goes " YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE"! Good luck folks, remember ENRON, one guy lost $900,000+ or shall we go to the EXXON Valdez case, [1989 thru 2009 ] that took 10 years, with a settlement from a jury at 5 Billion, and by the time they finished with ALL APPEALS, where courts [ including 3 US Supreme courts actions, last one GAVE the plaintiffs 500 million ] and lawyers, and governors, and 5 Presidents allowed this, many people died, and went bankrupt, or committed suicide, in a $100 million fishing industry that was destroyed by EXXON! IF WE DO NOT FIGHT, "THEY" [ CORPORATIONS, BANKS, CREDIT, OIL< AUTO< Sate and Federal – OUR GOVERNMENT ] WILL ALWAYS WIN!
this is awful………. what a law suit ,lol
How did this turn out? I'm one of the many affected! Thanks
Hi Daniel, The proposed AG Edwards class action settlement was approved at the May 14th hearing in St. Louis; so basically the terms written about in the above post are what was approved. In terms of distribution of the settlement, according to the office of the co-lead counsel for the plaintiffs, it could still take a few months given the possibility for some appeals. So that's where things stand.
Lost approx 60 per cent of retirement. Went with so called expert advice from gentleman(?)from AG Edwards who said mutual funds diversified would be safe. What a joke. Never before investing in funds naively trusted the gentleman. Took it out, moved to another state, paid hefty taxes even though past 59-1/2, unemployed for 1-1/2 years, spent money for in-law addition on daughter's house which has not worked out. Lesson learned is seek advice and use your head. No one will watch out better than yourself. I basically lost everything and no one cares. Thank you A.G.Edwards / Wachovia/ Wells Fargo/ Wall Street/ Washington
oh hell i lost about $15000 to $30000 i swear in no time with a ag edwards firm basically telling me the same things–telling me to just hang on and on till i lost $15,000 to $20,000 almost over night.
Have not heard ANYTHING from AGE but assume i have not much coming . They sgould at least get in touch with me about my big refund-maybe $5.00 or so!
Well guess what, at the age of 70, I will have to get a job, file bankruptcy,lose my house,while the Lawyers buy luxury cars. Hope the jerks sleep well at night. Hope the folks working the various companies sleep well also. We did not get a break, we got screwed.
I got this notice – along with one that informed me that since I had not taken action by the date specified in a previous notice, I was now unable to file a suit on my own.
I was extremely unnerved at this since I had never received a previous notice of any kind.
What makes me madder than anything is that a broker at A.G.Edwards had put most of my retirement into Munder's NetNet and Future Technology Fund. After several months of losing too much money, I called the broker and told him to take my money out of both funds. He said to be patient, it would straighten itself out and the prospects were great that these funds would recover.
They didn't.
Several months later, after losing more than I could afford, I called the broker again – and was told the same thing again. This time I said "NO". I wanted out of the funds NOW.
When I received my next statement, I discovered that he had NOT done as I requested – so I went to his office and made the demand in person.
When I received my next statement, I saw that he STILL hadn't done what I asked him to do.
I moved my account at that time, but A.G.Edwards cost me %79 of my retirement.
And now, greedy lawyers are stealing my share of what A.G.Edwards stole from me.
If they had actually sent me the first papers that they say they sent, with the opt-out date, I would have opted out, and might have a chance to get a little bit more of my money back.
Disgusting.
One more thing …
I don't have the luxury of time nor hope that I can make up for the loss that A.G.Edwards caused me.
I'm 62.
This settlement is not fair to investors. Attorneys should not be entitled to more than 20%. Can we get a group of investors who feel they are wronged and start a suit of our own?
FYI (as of 8/2/2011): Called their tele-info line today (877-234-1312) – settlement was approved, but "an appeal is pending". For further questions, we can contact Sarah Laratrow (sp?) @ Milburg LLP (co-counsel) at 800-320-5081.
I think its a real shame that people get treated that way… I am 92 years old and have lost alot and i will most likely be dead and gone before I see what $20.00 . If you ask me we ought to sue the whole lot of them ……………………….
I have just spoken to whoever is operating the toll free number on the notification. On top of this minimal settlement amount, the fact is that it will not be paid in cash but in a credit. So that if the account has been closed, then you according to them receive nothing. While some class actions result in a benefit for the class, this action was only for the financial gain of the lawyers. This settlment is nothing other than a fee. I am a lawyer and I find this offensive. Why even bother. Everyone should file an objection.
Mr. Stephen,
Can you tell me who to contact to file a formal complaint against the lead counsel on this sham of a settlement for the classes?
Thanks.
Clare
I have never found an ethical lawyer or financial adviser. This does not mean that there is no ethical lawyers or financial advisers, it mean I have meet none. I wish they would leave me alone. I have nothing to offer them and they have nothing to offer me. Let me go to my front porch get in my rocker and drink my limeade in peace. I am an old man living on what disability I can get. after working 60 to 80 hours for years, I do not want to spend my time being upset by all these people. If I want to go some where, I will go to Disney World, not Madoff World. Let me live my last days in peace. I do not need to be upset about this matter. I have a life to live and do not need my peace or intelligence degraded by these matters.
My wife lost approximately $15,000.00 thro an investment in A.G. . She is no longer an account holder in any sense with that firm. However,
she received a "settlement" of $49.10 to be doled out over a 3 year period. These are coupons and therefore NOT redeamable for cash. Since we don't have an account with them our only choice is to give to a family member who might have an account or not bother. What happens to the money we (or many others in similar circumstances) do not collect?? A non-collectable $49.10 for compensation of a $15,000.00 loss is adding insult to injury. Remember those who have money make more money while the rest of us are up the creek.
Mary L. I had eight accounts, mostly for grandchildren. All were opened at the same time as trustee accounts and the same amount of money. I received seven checks for $20.42 and one account was done with vouchers, 1. 2012-$8.22, 2. 2013- $8.22, 3. 2014- $8.21. Wow! There will be money to spend the next 3 yrs. Maybe I'll get TV dinners with them. We all know money can be, and is, lost in the market – but this is a real scam. Sad. Makes you wonder about a lot of things. I wonder if these little vouchers can even be cashed or deposited?
My husband and I lost close to $700,000. with A.G. The little we had left we moved to another firm and since then our money has almost doubled. There was one account that our agent locked up in such a way that we can not remove it and my new agent in our present firm has tried and tried. We are still loosing money on a monthly bases in that account. And all we are going to get is $32.00 back for the next 3 years. Damn Lawyers are the ones getting rich. It doesn't really pay to do a class action suit. Better to do individual suits.
They need to figure out where all our money actually went and take it away from the greedy bastards who ended up with it. Did they ever take the time to figure any of this out? Someone got it, who and why and where is it and by golly, give it back. These vouchers are just a bunch of paper 'filling' to make it look like they're doing something, if you ask me. I want to know that they're doing MORE.
I found my way to this article through a client who was a former AG Edwards account holder. My heart goes out to all of those who have been affected by this fraud. AG Edwards actions were not bad enough and the situation is compounded by the egregious fees the lawyers are collecting. To make matters even worse the plaintiffs get paid off with essentially useless credits. I would love to see a law that compels the plaintiff lawyers to accept the same form of compensation as the plaintiffs themselves receive.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Financial Advisors, Wealth Managers, Vice Presidents of Global Asset Management (read SALESMEN) are Registered Representatives of their firms. They are legally obligated to place their firm's best interest first (ahead of yours). They also operate under a suitability standard which is much less stringent than a fiduciary standard. Many of them are paid on a transactional (Commission) basis and are "encouraged" to sell their firms proprietary products.
What can you do? Find a Fee Only, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (TM), who will work with you in a fiduciary capacity. Fee Only means the only compensation they receive is directly from you, allowing them to make recommendations that are not influenced by third party compensation arrangements or influence from their firms. While this is no guarantee that you won't be taken advantage of in the future, IMHO it does give a significantly better chance not being victimized again. In the interest of Full Disclosure, I am a Fee Only, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (TM).
Best Regards
I would NEVER go to another broker again if my life depended on it. stay with a credit union .Diirectors are not paid and their services are nothing compared to banks. I learned a costly valuable lessons. we were just robbed
Is there no way to be paid out for these rather than send in vouchers over a 3 year period? I saw somewhere that members without accounts can be paid $20.42 however the help line does not reflect that it says they can only be used on existing accounts. My late husband received vouchers and since his acount is gone I would like to just receive a check and be done with them. I also have an elderly mother that cannot see the print on the vouchers much less figure out how to use them (if she lives the 3 years to use them!) I feel this is just dirty business and that Wells Fargo must not value their customers. I am thinking of closing my accounts there. I think the voucher system is intentionally difficult to avoid people using them.
NOW….. I get a credit voucher that requires information that I have NO knowledge of how to access… just to get my $8.22 per year for three years! Bah! Humbug! It's a shame that I had such an honest and trustworthy agent (D.A.) who would never have gone for this underhanded maneuvering. I've moved my funds to another company!
Good move. I'm moving also. I received a small check which I will cash, but the vouchers are already history. It's not worth the time to keep track of such junk. Can you hear the judge, the lawyers and Wells Fargo laughing?
I just received my vochers in Dec. 2011. Who was the judge on this case? Let hire a lawyer to sue the original lawyers (who have
our money along with AGEdwards).
I wonder if we can sue the old staff at AGEdwards? They are the ones that we need to sue. They mislead us. I am so very upset!!!
JVH
The person I had at A. G. Edwards is the same person I have now with Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo obviously agreed to the voucher system and collecting them.
I just got the voucher for $8.22 each year for 3 years. What a joke! I don't understand some of the questions. What is the amount of covered fee. I don't know the dates of covered fees, how do I find this? My husband got one, but he is deceased, can I still cash his?
Thanks,
Linda
Settlement is a joke, I had closed accounts prior to this, so now, I must re-open an account in order to claim my 25 bucks. Didn't trust them then, what makes you think anything has changed. Not worth the hassle…
I hate to say it, but do you people not watch the paper everyday to see what happens? I mean stocks don't just go down overnight… Ive had a mutual fund with AG Edwards, and watched my portfolio go up and down.. stocks, (which are mutual funds ) do do that. They can not guarantee what will happen… maybe buy blue chips and bonds, and put some money in the s and p, which hasn't been doing great lately… I am not a broker and am not giving advice, but I am just saying… Its up to the investor to do the research!
As far as i am concerned they may as well stick that where the sun don't shine. There stupid paperwork is just to confuse matters even more. Why the hell would you want a credit voucher,opt out. Money is gone,big shots live in glory until there time comes>>>>>
i did do research. i was with age then wells fargo. they talked me into annuities. then when i wanted to borrow not sell he adamantly said no, just sell. i lost over 700,000. not only that when i sold to use for travel and things, the broker accused me of doing drugs!! even doing research, they are out for themselves. my broker is now living in a home twice as big as i ever had. maybe i should throw some drugs on her porch, call the law, and say..geez…isn't this what you did to me legally?
I thought if a company scammed customers they would be in big trouble, possibly even in jail. my story: had worked in banks for 28yrs. and should have known better. But thru the yrs. I had seen big nice interest checks from dealing with brokers. My husband was self employed, therefore had NO retirement. I had a nice 401K. A guy that went to our church was a broker for AG Edwards and a charming, smooth , fast talker. All we had for my husbands retirement was a savings acct. with $15.000.00 . Well Mr. A. G. Edwards smooth liar told us how much better , bla bla bla we could do moving it with him. He even told us to move our Woodman of the World Life Ins. that we had paid on for 30 yrs to really boost that retirement. . He said he could match 100,000.00 ins. policy. you know the rest of the story. WE told him that we were NOT gamblers or wasteful people. No high risk or overseas money. He replied– Oh, sure , I understand completely". Each month the statement was going down. I would call and he says. -well you got in at a bad time. I would growl back , this is all the sayings my hubby has and I feel like you are wasting it. .Good golly, I would rather have it at the bank making 4% in a secured CD or in a coffee can buried in the back yard not going down and letting it blow away in the wind. He would NOT listen. my husband got so mad he went up to AG Edwards and made him sign a statement that he would not move our funds or go to any high risk til he called us. He never did. I knew it was time to move our money when his wife and mother came to the credit union with checks from AG Edwards to deposit into CD's with us.
LOL I can't believe I was so stupid. I shld have trusted my gut and never trusted a broker. Half of the church members were mad at him. He was shunned and kinda not a part of our loving family again. He acted like he had done nothing wrong. He left shortly as soon as he was fired from AG Edwards
Has this suit been resolved??
I have lost 400,000. In tax free bonds and years of interest. My broker was Martin Mclauphline. I am on disability and that was my retirement fund to give me 40,000. a year tax free. AAA tax free municipal bonds. I have statements from A.G.Edwards to Wells Fargo. I , have no money, can not walk. This was my inheritance from my parents Rhoda Miller and Dr. Leo Miller. Please help I need an aide that I can not pay for and disability does not even cover my rent. I will be homeless soon. Thank you, Nancy Miller.
ive been trying to find my stocks for a while I put everything in them to now see this