Securities Fraud

Securities Fraud Lawyers
Shareholder Rights Attorneys
Defrauded Investors Legal Advice

In recent years, the number of corporate financial scandals has grown at an alarming rate. The trend of corporate officers and directors defrauding and misleading investors has continued at a steady pace. A direct result of this corporate malfeasance is a monetary loss for investors, many of whom are small individual investors who can least afford the loss. The Federal securities laws and those of the State of Texas tip the balance of power back into the hands of investors. Corporate and securities fraud litigation insures honest financial reporting as well as integrity within the national securities markets.

Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act ("PSLRA") any investor, regardless of the size of his or her investment, can initiate securities fraud class action lawsuits when their purchase or sale of a security was due to a false or misleading statement, or an omission of a material fact, by officers or directors of a public company.

• Federal securities law violations
• Shareholder rights violations
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act violations (accounting fraud, false corporate filings)
• Breach of fiduciary duties
• Insider trading

Andy Tindel will vigorously fight for defrauded investors. The Tyler office of��Provost Umphrey is currently litigating numerous securities fraud class actions, derivative and ERISA cases. Provost Umphrey has the ability, resources, and manpower to aggressively and thoroughly prosecute these complex cases.

Andy Tindel has been involved in representing defrauded investors in these securities fraud class actions:

$285 MILLION SETTLEMENT ANNOUNCED IN EL PASO SECURITIES FRAUD LITIGATION

On August 3, 2006 El Paso Corporation filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that it has reached an agreement in principal to settle certain consolidated securities fraud claims filed against it proceeding under the style of Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr.�v. El Paso Corporation, et al., pending in the United States District Court for the Southern Distict of Texas, pursuant to a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) executed by the parties in July. The terms of the proposed settlement, which is subject to the execution of a stipulation between the parties and Court approval, will create a settlement fund, to be paid by El Paso and its insurers, in the amount $273,000,000. Additionally, under the terms of the MOU, the acccounting firm of PriceWaterhouse Coopers will contribute an additional $12,000,000 to the settlement fund, comprising a total recovery of $285,000,000.

JONATHAN M. PLASSE, of the New York City firm of Labaton, Rudoff & Sucharow, L.L.P. served as national lead counsel for Oscar Wyatt and the class and ANDY TINDEL of the Provost * Umphrey Law Firm, L.L.P. served as local Texas counsel for Mr.Wyatt and the class. Once the parties execute the Stipulation of Settlement and the Court preliminarily approves the proposed settlement, Notice of the settlement and claim forms to participate in the distribution of the settlement will be mailed to shareholders of record.

$457 MILLION DOLLAR SETTLEMENT APPROVED IN WASTE MANAGEMENT SECURITIES FRAUD LITIGATION

On July 31, 2003, United States District Judge Melinda Harmon entered an amended judgment giving final approval for a $457,000,000.00 settlement of the IN RE WASTE MANAGEMENT, INC.SECURITIES FRAUD LITIGATION pending in the Houston Division of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. ANDY TINDEL, managing attorney of the Tyler office of the Provost * Umphrey Law Firm, L.L.P., represented the lead plaintiff in this case, the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Lead counsel for the Plaintiff class, JONATHAN M. PLASSE of the firm of Goodkind, Labaton, Rudoff & Sucharow of New York City, announced that this settlement represents the third largest securities fraud settlement in history and is the largest securities fraud settlement ever achieved in any case within the Fifth Circuit. In addition to payment of $457 million in cash, the settlement requires Waste Management, Inc. to institute significant corporate governance changes designed to increase the independence of the company�s audit committee and to give its shareholders greater control over corporate management for the benefit of the investing public at large.

PROVOST * UMPHREY APPOINTED AS LEAD COUNSEL IN SECURITIES FRAUD CLASS ACTION AGAINST PAINEWEBBER AND UBS WARBURG

In an order signed November 21, 2002, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas appointed the Provost * Umphrey Law Firm,L.L.P., as Lead Counsel for a proposed class of shareholders who acquired their Enron Corp. securities through the retail brokerage services of UBS PaineWebber, Inc. The class action lawsuit alleges federal securities fraud violations arising from conflicts of interest between the investment analysis and advice given to the proposed class of Enron shareholders by UBS Warburg, L.L.C. and the investment banking activities of PaineWebber. ANDY TINDEL, managing attorney of the Tyler, Texas office of Provost * Umphrey, is representing the interests of the class in this litigation along with attorneys from the firm's Dallas and Beaumont offices

OSCAR WYATT APPOINTED LEAD PLAINTIFF FOR EL PASO SECURITIES FRAUD LITIGATION

On October 16, 2001, United States District Judge Lynn Hughes appointed Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. as lead plaintiff for a proposed class of El Paso Corp. shareholders suing the company in federal court in Houston, Texas for securities fraud violations. Judge Hughes has named JONATHAN M. PLASSE, of the New York City firm of Goodkind, Labaton, Rudoff & Sucharow, L.L.P. as national lead counsel for Oscar Wyatt and the proposed class and ANDY TINDEL of the Provost * Umphrey Law Firm, L.L.P. as local Texas counsel for Mr. Wyatt and the class.