Page Perry Wins $1.6 Million For Client Against Bear Stearns

August 24, 2007 7:00 a.m.

ATLANTA, Aug. 24 / — Page Perry client Gregory A. Fisher has been awarded over $1.6 million in damages in an arbitration against his former employer, Bear Stearns & Co., Inc., a unit of Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC). Bear Stearns was held liable to Mr. Fisher by a three-person panel of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) arbitrators.

Fisher, a former Senior Managing Director at Bear, alleged in arbitration proceedings that he was told by the company in March 2005 that it was no longer interested in servicing his clients, which included financial institutions based in the Caribbean and Central America, because of increased regulatory burdens imposed by the USA PATRIOT Act. Upon Fisher’s departure, the firm agreed not to solicit those clients, but immediately reassigned certain of Fisher’s largest accounts and began soliciting their business.

Although the arbitrators supplied no reason for their decision, Fisher had alleged that Bear Stearns breached the severance agreement, tortiously interfered with his business, and committed fraud. Fisher’s $1.625 million award was offset by an award in favor of Bear Stearns in the amount of $780,680 for excess Bear Stearns stock erroneously distributed to Fisher after his departure.

Page Perry partner J. Steven Parker represented Fisher, who is now employed by another brokerage firm.

Fisher had proposed retaining the excess stock, terminating Bear’s noncompete obligations and releasing Bear Stearns from further damages, as a means of settling the dispute, but the arbitrators found Bear Stearns rejected that offer. Instead, Bear Stearns commenced the arbitration in February 2006. Fisher filed counterclaims for breach of the severance agreement.

The case is FINRA Dispute Resolution Arbitration No. 06-00756. The five- day arbitration hearing was held in Atlanta in August 2007.