Cohen & Gresser LLP
June 2, 2014
  C&G Wins Securities Litigation Trial Against the SEC 
On Friday, May 30, 2014, a Cohen & Gresser trial team led by Mark S Cohen and Jonathan S Abernethy won a major trial victory on behalf of its client, Wynnefield Capital Inc. analyst Peter Black, in an insider trading case brought by the SEC.  After a two week trial, the New York federal court jury found Mr. Black and his co-defendants Nelson Obus and Thomas Bradley Strickland not liable with respect to all charges in the alleged $1.3 million insider trading scheme.  Mr. Obus was represented by Joel M. Cohen of Gibson Dunn and Mr. Strickland was represented by Roland G. Riopelle of Sercarz & Riopelle LLP.
 

The SEC originally brought the case in 2006, alleging that Black and Obus traded on inside information in connection with Wynnefield's 2001 purchase of shares of SunSource, Inc. two weeks before the public announcement of SunSource's acquisition by Allied Capital Corporation. The SEC  alleged that Strickland misappropriated information from GE Capital and tipped his friend, Black, about the pending acquisition.  The SEC sought an injunction against Black, Obus, and Strickland, disgorgement of over $1.3 million in alleged ill-gotten gains, civil monetary penalties, and an order prohibiting each of them from acting as an officer or director of any issuer of securities.

 

This victory marks the end of one of the SEC's longest running insider trading cases.  The lawsuit and Friday's victory against the SEC have been covered extensively by major media and law news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters, and Law360.

 

The Cohen & Gresser trial team included Mark S Cohen, Jonathan S Abernethy, Melanie A Grossman, and Reggie B Schafer. 

 
About the Firm
Founded in 2002, Cohen & Gresser LLP has been recognized in Chambers USA, Legal 500, and Benchmark Litigation, and was named to The National Law Journal's 2013 "Midsize Hot List." The firm has offices in New York, Paris, and Seoul, and has grown to sixty lawyers in four practice areas: Litigation and  Arbitration; Intellectual Property and Technology; White Collar Defense; and Corporate.