Legal Media Matters

Carey & Danis Announces Auction-Rate Securities Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Wells Fargo & Co.

NEWS RELEASE

St. Louis – The law firm of Carey & Danis LLC has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of persons who purchased auction-rate securities from Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) and Wells Fargo Investments, LLC between June 11, 2003 and Feb. 13, 2008 and who continued to hold the securities as of Feb. 13, 2008.

The class action lawsuit, Jungbluth v. Wells Fargo & Co. et al., Case 2:08-CV-00509-AEG, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.  The suit alleges that Wells Fargo & Co. and its subsidiary, Wells Fargo Investments, LLC, violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by deceiving investors about the investment characteristics of auction-rate securities and the auction market in which the securities are traded.

Auction-rate securities are municipal or corporate debt securities or preferred stocks that pay interest at rates set through periodic auctions.  The instruments typically have long-term maturity dates or no maturity date.

The suit filed on June 11 claims that, pursuant to uniform sales materials and top-down management directives, Wells Fargo offered and sold auction-rate securities to the public as highly liquid cash-management instruments and as suitable alternatives to money market mutual funds.  On Feb. 13, 2008, all of the major broker-dealers, including Wells Fargo, withdrew their support for the auctions.  The suit claims that, as a result, investors have been unable to liquidate their auction-rate securities.

The lawsuit alleges that Wells Fargo failed to disclose the following material facts about the auction-rate securities it sold to the class:

• The auction-rate securities were not cash alternatives like money market funds but were instead complex long-term financial instruments with 30-year maturity dates.
• The auction-rate securities were only liquid at the time of the sale because Wells Fargo and other broker-dealers were artificially supporting and manipulating the market to maintain the appearance of liquidity and stability.
• Wells Fargo and other broker-dealers routinely intervened in the auctions for their own benefit to set rates and to prevent all-hold auctions and failed auctions.
• Wells Fargo continued to market auction-rate securities as liquid investments even after Wells Fargo and other broker-dealers determined that they would likely be withdrawing support for the periodic auctions and that a freeze of the auction-rate securities market would result.

Investors who purchased or acquired auction-rate securities from Wells Fargo between June 11, 2003, and Feb. 13, 2008, and who continued to hold the securities as of Feb. 13, 2008, may request appointment as lead plaintiff by the Court on June 13, 2008.  A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members.  To be appointed, the Court must conclude that the investor’s claims are typical of other class members’ and that the investor will adequately represent the class.  The investor’s ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as lead plaintiff.  The investor may retain Carey & Danis LLC, or other attorneys, to serve as counsel.

Auction-rate securities investors who wish to discuss their rights against Wells Fargo or any other broker-dealer may contact Carey & Danis LLC toll-free at 800-721-2519.  A copy of the lawsuit is available from the Court.

Carey & Danis LLC is a national law firm based in St. Louis that aids victims of corporate abuse, greed and neglect.  For more information, contact Joseph Danis (jdanis@careydanis.com), Michael Flannery (mflannery@careydanis.com) or Corey Sullivan (csullivan@careydanis.com).  You can also visit our website at www.careydanis.com.

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Media Contact: Geri L. Dreiling
Legal Media Matters
314.743.3851 or 314.520.3897
legalmediamatters@sbcglobal.net

CLE benefits worthy cause

Simon Passanante’s fourth annual seminar, which earns lawyers CLE credit and raises money for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, will be held on June 24.

Attorneys who attend the seminar will earn seven hours of continuing legal education credit, including one hour of ethics credit. The entire $100 seminar fee is donated to Legal Services of Eastern Missouri.

In the past three years the event has raised nearly $37,000 for the organization, which provides legal assistance to low-income families.

The seminar, entirely underwritten and organized by the St. Louis law firm Simon Passanante, will be held at the Missouri Athletic Club. Registration begins at 8:15 a.m.

Amy Collignon Gunn of Simon Passanante will serve as moderator. The speakers include:

• Eugene Buckley, Buckley & Buckley, Ethics and Professionalism
• John E. Campbell, Simon Passanante, Consumer Protection
• St. Louis City Circuit Court Judge Jimmie Edwards, Tips from the Bench
• Dennis W. Fox, Dennis W. Fox & Associates, Social Security Disability
• Nancy R. Mogab, Mogab & Hughes, Workers Compensation
• Mary Anne Sedey, Sedey Harper, Employment Discrimination
• Anthony G. Simon, Simon Passanante, Intellectual Property

For more information, call Simon Passanante at 314-241-2929 or visit www.simonpassanante.com.

Law prof is passionate about vice presidency

If you have a question – any question – about the vice presidency, Joel K. Goldstein is your go-to guy.

Goldstein, a professor at St. Louis University School of Law, is a leading scholar on vice presidents and vice presidential candidates, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

He’s written one book on the topic and has another in the works. In this hot VP year, Goldstein has already been quoted by the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Miami Herald.

“He’s like an exotic plant that blooms once every four years,” says Goldstein’s wife, Maxine Lipeles, a law professor at Washington University.

Written by reporter Jake Wagman, the article notes that Goldstein’s two kids could recite the vice presidents and a family vacation included a stop in Russell, Kan., home of Bob Dole.

A position that once was described as “most insignificant” by John Adams has undergone a transformation under Dick Cheney.

But Cheney’s vice presidency is also notable for something else, says Goldstein: “He’s the first vice president since Aaron Burr to shoot another human being.”