This past summer, it was announced that the second largest SEC Whistleblower Award of over $17 million was granted to a client of the law firm, Labaton Sucharow LLP. The client reported of the wrongdoings within the financial services industry. Also, the client chose to remain anonymous to avoid blacklisting and retaliation. As a matter of fact, the SEC doesn’t disclose specific cases that the whistleblowers played a role in to prevent indirect identification of the whistleblower.
Jordan Thomas, noted leader of SEC whistleblower lawyer team, and his team secured a expansive monetary award for a client who reported wrongdoing in a high profile case. He also represented a public company’s first officer in receiving a whistleblower award. And in another instance, Thomas worked on the first case where the SEC successfully charged an employer for retaliation towards a whistleblower.
Thomas stated that his client whistle blew when others within that industry were content in remaining silent and allowing the harm opposed on investors. Thomas, also being the Chair of the Whistleblower Representation Practice of Labaton Sucharow, predicted that many SEC’s biggest and most significant cases will result from courageous whistleblowers for years to come.
Because of the incentives and unique protection provided by the SEC Whistleblower Program, eligible whistleblowers, like the client of Labaton Sucharow, are able to report possible violations of federal securities anonymously along with having the opportunity to gain extensive monetary awards and employment protection. And to ensure the availability of adequate funds for awards, Congress established an Investor Protection Fund that is replenished and has a current balance of over $400 million.
This is the 6th year of the SEC Whistleblower program. In this program, eligible whistleblowers are able to receive from 10 percent to 30 percent of the entire monetary sanctions collected from a successful enforcement action.
About Labaton Sucharow LLP
For over 50 years, Labaton Sucharow has been one of the nation’s premier law firms that comprehensively represents institutional investors, businesses, and consumers in complex business and securities litigation. They build on their platform of market leading securities litigation, and their practice leverages a leading, in house team consisting of financial analysts, investigators, and forensic accountants. Their team is equipped with state and federal law enforcement expertise to offer unparalleled whistleblowers’ representation. Labaton Sucharow, www.labaton.com, is consistently ranked among the top plaintiff litigation firms according to The Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Benchmark Litigation, and The National Law Journal Plaintiffs’ Hot List.
