Ajamie 

711 Louisiana
Suite 2150
Houston, TX 77002
713-860-1600 (direct)
713-860-1699(direct fax)
713-860-1600 (firm)
713-860-1699 (firm fax)
www.ajamie.com
Contact

Read the Lawyer Limelight Q&A with Thomas Ajamie

Tom Ajamie is an internationally-recognized trial lawyer who has successfully represented clients in complex commercial litigation and arbitration. The authoritative Chambers USA has described Tom as “a stupendous litigator with a winning attitude and work ethic.” He has handled a number of high-profile cases, including groundbreaking securities and financial cases, cross-border litigation, business contract disputes and employment issues. Tom has won two of the largest awards ever handed down by an arbitration panel for investors, including a $429.5 million award. He has also won a record $112 million civil RICO jury verdict.

Tom has been recognized by numerous legal publications and directories, including Chambers USA, Best Lawyers in America, Euromoney’s Benchmark Litigation, and Super Lawyers. The National Law Journal has named Tom one of its 50 Litigation Trailblazers. He was also honored as one of the nation’s 500 Leading Lawyers by Lawdragon, as well as that publication’s “100 Lawyers You Need to Know in Securities Litigation.” The Martindale-Hubbell law directory, which ranks the legal ability of lawyers, gave Tom an AV rating. He is also a life member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, whose membership is limited to attorneys who have won multi-million dollar verdicts, awards and settlements–fewer than 1% of U.S. attorneys.

Tom is regularly invited to give legal analysis by news media outlets including ABC, CNN, CNBC, NPR and BBC, and his work has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The American Lawyer. He is the co-author of the book Financial Serial Killers: Inside the World of Wall Street Money Hustlers, Swindlers, and Con Men. His work on behalf of investors in the Bre-X gold scandal is featured in the book Fools’ Gold: the Making of a Global Market Fraud, by Brian Hutchinson.

The Ajamie Scholarship Fund was created by Tom as a way of promoting tolerance and equality among our youth. The Scholarship Fund offers university scholarships to students who display respect and support diversity initiatives in our society, without regard to race, religion, creed, skin color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability or sexual orientation.

REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS

  • Currently suing Wells Fargo in a case where some of its employees stole money from client accounts over two and one-half years. (front page New York Times article)
  • Negotiated the global resolution of 40 civil proceedings in federal and state court in the United States, in federal and state courts in Mexico, and in civil arbitration proceedings before CANACO in Mexico.
  • Member of the legal team that recovered a $70 million settlement from Securities America, Inc., the broker-dealer subsidiary of Ameriprise Financial, Inc., for investors who lost money in the Medical Capital Ponzi scheme.
  • Won a $112,119,005 jury verdict after a three-week trial in a case brought under civil RICO against defendants who conspired to extort money from our corporate client and tamper with trial witnesses. (American Lawyer article)
  • Co-counsel in an ERISA class action alleging that plan fiduciaries breached their duties of loyalty and prudence by selecting and maintaining inappropriate Putnum mutual funds for the defendant company’s 401(k) plan.
  • Recovered a multi-million dollar “clawback” for our Fortune 100 client in a case where the client’s executive employees were hired away by a competitor. The departing executives had signed agreements in which they promised to pay back restricted stock and stock option awards that they received if they went to work for a competitor.
  • Conducted several internal investigations for a Fortune 100 company.
  • Won a $14.5 million arbitration award on behalf of a New York family against Prudential Equity Group. The award was obtained following 84 hearing sessions at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). At the time, The Wall Street Journal stated that this award was the third largest in the United States.  (Wall Street Journal article)
  • Represented the Mexican subsidiary of an international corporation in the illegal arrests of the corporation’s employees in Mexico following a dispute concerning an alleged breach of contract. The representation involved complex cross-border matters in the U.S. and Mexico.
  • Settled a lawsuit against two insurance agents, six insurance companies and a law firm for $7.29 million after four days of trial in Galveston state court. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants negligently advised a 90-year-old widow and her 65-year-old son to sell their Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. stock and use the proceeds to purchase life insurance and annuities as part of an “estate tax plan.” (VerdictSearch article)
  • Won a $429.5 million arbitration award against a former PaineWebber broker. The Wall Street Journal noted that the award is the largest in United States history. One of the brokers involved in the fraud was convicted and served six and a half years in federal prison. (Wall Street Journal article)
  • Won an eight-figure settlement on behalf of several investors defrauded of over $100 million by one of the United States’ largest national brokerage firms.
  • Successfully represented a pension fund in a lawsuit against a New York hedge fund after the hedge fund lost 30% of the funds with which it was entrusted. (Wall Street Journal article)
  • In the Enron litigation, represented one of the insurance companies that provided directors and officers insurance coverage.
  • Represented an Illinois-based utility company in litigation against distressed bondholders seeking recovery following an $80 million bond default for an electric power facility located outside of Chicago. At the time, this was the “eighth largest municipal bond default in the history of the municipal market,” according to the Bond Investors Association.
  • Won a dismissal of all claims against a major utility company in connection with the Panhandle interstate gas pipeline system in an antitrust lawsuit alleging conspiracy to monopolize, tying and a group boycott.
  • Litigated an agreement to affiliate a client’s television stations with the WB Television Network. Secured a favorable settlement, including the sale of the client’s Houston station for $95 million–an “incredibly high” price, according to Variety.
  • Won the dismissal of 21 consolidated class action lawsuits filed in federal court against former officers of a NYSE-listed client alleging violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Rule 10b-5.
  • Successfully defended the second largest funeral and cemetery services company against a $4 billion hostile takeover bid by SCI, that industry’s largest company. The case involved securities, tort and antitrust litigation.

OTHER ATTORNEY EXPERIENCE

  • Founder, Ajamie LLP, Houston (1997-present)
  • Baker Botts, LLP, Houston (1985-1997)

MEMBERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY

  • College of the State Bar of Texas
  • International, American, New York, Texas & Houston Bar Associations
  • American Bar Foundation
  • FINRA National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (2012-2015)
  • American Association for Justice; Co-Chair, Investment Fraud Committee (2006)
  • Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association
  • Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum–Life Member
  • Premier Benefactor, The Sundance Institute
  • Board of Trustees, Houston Grand Opera
  • Patron, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and Boston

DISTINCTIONS

  • Top 50 Litigation Trailblazers (The National Law Journal)
  • Best Lawyers in America (New York and Texas)
  • Leading Lawyer in Commercial Litigation (Chambers USA)
  • Litigation Star–Commercial (Benchmark Litigation, published by Euromoney/Institutional Investor)
  • Texas Super Lawyer
  • 500 Leading Lawyers in America (Lawdragon)
  • Top Lawyers in Business Litigation (H Texas Magazine)
  • Top 100 Lawyers You Need to Know in Securities Litigation (Lawdragon)
  • Rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell for Ethical Standards and Legal Ability
EDUCATION
  • University of Notre Dame Law School, J.D., 1985
    • London Law Programme, 1983-1984
  • Arizona State University, B.A., cum laude, 1982
    • Student Body President, 1980-1981
  • University of Louvain, Belgium
BAR ADMISSIONS
  • Texas
  • New York
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
  • Spanish
  • French

 

See Library Tab for articles, publications and presentations by Thomas Ajamie

PUBLICATIONS, SPEECHES AND PRESENTATIONS

  • “Issues Facing Claimants’ Attorneys,” Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) 24th Annual Meeting (2015)
  • “Damages,” Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) 23rd Annual Meeting (2014)
  • “Securities Arbitration and Mediation: Telling Your Story,” New York State Bar Association’s Spring CLE Program, New York (2014)
  • “Overview of Securities Arbitration Matters,” Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) 22nd Annual Meeting (2013)
  • “Looking Across the Globe: How Developments in FCPA Investigations and Regulations are Shaping the Future,” ALM’s Cross-Border M&A and Litigation Forum, New York (2013)
  • “The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: What’s Your Risk Exposure?,” Union Internacionale des Avocats and New York State Bar Association 5th Business Law Forum, New York (2013)
  • “Focus Groups and Jury Selection,” AEGIS Insurance Claims Roundtable Program: “Managing Mass Tort Litigation,” East Rutherford, New Jersey and Los Angeles, California (2013)
  • “Insurance and Collection Issues: The Punch List for Claimants’ Attorneys,” Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) 21st Annual Meeting (2012)
  • “Victimized: When to Refer Your Client to an Attorney,” Financial Planning Association of New York eNews (2012)
  • Keynote Address:  “Financial Serial Killers,” Accountants Club of America Meeting, Union League Club, New York (2012)
  • “The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act: What’s Your Risk Exposure?,” Corporate Counsel’s Cross-Border Litigation Forum, The Harvard Club, New York (2012)
  • “The Attorney-Client Privilege for In House Attorneys,” Association of Corporate Counsel’s National Litigation Committee Meeting (2012)
  • Keynote Address: “What Advisors Can Learn from the Financial Crisis & Scams,” The Financial Planning Association of New York Annual Forum (2012)
  • W!se MoneyPower Conference for Financial Literacy, The McGraw-Hill Companies, New York (2011)
  • “Commentary: Help for Securities Fraud Plaintiffs Seeking Class Certification,” Texas Lawyer (2011)
  • Keynote Address: “How To Detect and Deflect Scams & Schemes,” The Financial Planning Association of New York’s 9th Annual Financial Fitness Workshop (2011)
  • Keynote Address: “Greed, Ego, Power, Ethics & the Law,” NALSC 2011 Spring Conference (2011)
  • “The Financial Serial Killers Among Us,” CFA Society of Houston Program (2011)
  • “Turning Commercial Litigation into Commerce–The Corporate Legal Department as a Profit Center,” ALM’s 2nd Annual Litigation Summit (2010), and ALM’s Controlling Legal Costs: Valuing, Measuring and Enhancing the Delivery of Legal Services (2010)
  • “Thinking Like a Plaintiff,” Corporate Counsel’s 7th Annual General Counsel Conference West Coast Conference (2009)
  • “Regulation D, TICs, and Unlisted REITS,” Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA) 18th Annual Meeting (2009)
  • “Doing Ethical Business in Europe: Are You Ready for Multi-Cultural Legal Operations?” Corporate Counsel’s 21st Annual General Counsel Conference (2009)
  • “La Seguridad Empresarial–Cómo Evitar que un Pleito de Negocios Resulte en Cargos Criminales” (“Business Security: How to Prevent a Business Dispute from Resulting in Criminal Charges”), American Chamber of Commerce of México: Reunión del Comité de Seguridad (2008)
  • “Surviving and Succeeding Under the Media Spotlight,” AEGIS Policyholder Conference Roundtable Program: “Success Through Utilizing AEGIS’ Gas & Electric Litigation Services” (2008)
  • “Representing the Hedge Fund Investor,” Trial Magazine (2007)
  • “Getting Grandma’s Nest Egg Back,” The Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA) Business Torts Section Newsletter (2006)
  • “Litigating Insurance Product Claims,” The American Association for Justice (AAJ) 2006 Annual Convention
  • “A Basic Primer on Hedge Funds,” AAJ 2006 Annual Convention
  • “A Mock Arbitration: As Close as You Can Get,” Securities Industry Association (SIA)/Wharton Securities Industry Institute 54th Annual Program (2006)
  • “Insurance Industry Issues,” Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (2005)
  • “A Look at the Securities Arbitration Process,” ATLA Business Torts Section Newsletter (2005)
  • “Mock Arbitration,” SIA/Wharton Securities Industry Institute 53rd Annual Program (2005)
  • “Securities Fraud, Market Abuses and Insider Trading,” University of Houston Law Foundation, Advanced Business Litigation (2003)
  • “Nuevas Responsabilidades Legales de los Fabricantes de Autopartes en el Mercado Norteamericano.” Industria Nacional de Autopartes, A.C., XXXIX Reunión de Evaluación del Sector Automotor (2003)
  • “Shareholder Litigation and Officer/Director Liability Post-Sarbanes-Oxley,” University of Houston Law Foundation, Representing Corporations in a Changed Legal Environment (2002)

 

January 2015 Low oil prices could reveal firms overestimating reserves
January 2015 National Law Journal Names Tom Ajamie to Elite "Top 50 Litigation Trailblazers"
December 2014 Why you should care who backs your Houston financial adviser
December 2014 How oil prices will reveal financial foul play
December 2014 The Company Is Still Tight-Lipped, but Shareholders Aren’t
October 2014 Wunderlich Reversal: Won't Hire 'Discharged' LPL Broker
October 2014 Financial Advisors Who Are Worried About Getting Wrongly Sued Should Keep A Long Paper Trail
October 2014 FINRA Proposal Confines, Confounds Plaintiff Lawyers
October 2014 How to Avoid 'Financial Serial Killers' like Belfort, Madoff
October 2014 BP Must Face U.S. Suits by Foreign Investors, Judge Rules
September 2014 Treasury’s Tax Move Legal?
September 2014 Financial Serial Killers
August 2014 Attorneys: Prosecutors Have Uphill Battle in Convicting Rick Perry
July 2014 BP Workers Can Sue Over Retirement Losses Tied to Spill
June 2014 Dallas lawyer at center of Houston trial over whether firm owed clients a warning on fraudster Allen Stanford
March 2014 Tom Ajamie Speaks at NYSBA's Securities Arbitration and Mediation 2014
December 2013 Ajamie LLP Wins Dismissal of Multimillion Dollar Antitrust Lawsuit by National Hospital Chain
November 2013 JPMorgan, DOJ to Announce Details of Settlement
November 2013 Pitt, Ajamie Roundtable on SAC Capital Advisors
October 2013 UBS Brokers in Puerto Rico Create Headache for the Bank
September 2013 Tom Ajamie and John Clay Named Texas Super Lawyers for 2013
August 2013 Tom Ajamie Selected to Best Lawyers in America 2014
July 2013 Arraignment in U.S. v. SAC Begins
July 2013 SAC Indicted: Are Feds Getting Tough on Wall Street?
July 2013 Strong case against Cohen?
July 2013 Arsenal of Legal Firepower Masses Around Tourre Trial
June 2013 Enron’s Former CEO Has Sentence Cut to 14 Years
February 2013 Playing Santa: Not everyone gets a pizza box signed by Alice Cooper
January 2013 Madoff Aside, Financial Fraud Defies Policing
December 2012 Branding Hot in Texas: Managing Partner Survey Spots Trends in Lone Star State
November 2012 Victimized: When to Refer Your Client to an Attorney
October 2012 Ajamie Structures Multimillion Dollar Mexico/USA Cross-Border Settlement
October 2012 Feds sue Bank of America over 'hustle' home loans
August 2012 FINRA FIve Years Later
July 2012 Can You Trust Wall Street?
May 2012 The Best Buy Fallout
April 2012 Advisors Beware: Con Men Targeting Your Clients
March 2012 Business Daily: Rewarding whistleblowers
March 2012 Mets owners settle Madoff suit
March 2012 SIPC Fights SEC's Stanford Suit
December 2011 Awaiting Jon Corzine's Testimony
December 2011 Legal View on Jon Corzine's Statement
October 2011 Raj Rajaratnam Sentencing
September 2011 Rogue traders
September 2011 Thomas Ajamie Named Texas Super Lawyer for 2011
September 2011 Ajamie Says Shareholders May Have Good Claim Against UBS
July 2011 Find advice you can trust
July 2011 Commentary: Help for Securities Fraud Plaintiffs Seeking Class Certification
June 2011 Goldman Sachs' Legal Woes
June 2011 Manhattan DA Subpoenas Goldman Sachs
April 2011 Chambers USA Recognizes Tom Ajamie as a Leader in Commercial Litigation
April 2011 GE unlikely to face liability in Japanese nuclear crisis
March 2011 Wiretaps May Play Big Role In Insider Trading Case
February 2011 Ajamie Appointed to Team Leading BP Suits
February 2011 BP Misled Investors Before Gulf Spill, Lawyers Say
January 2011 Smart Woman: Financial Serial Killers
December 2010 5 ways to avoid financial fraud
December 2010 How to Avoid Being Taken in by a Ponzi Scheme
December 2010 Madoff: Two Years Later
November 2010 Insider Trading Debate
November 2010 Big Lots case adds to insider trading debate
November 2010 Is Wall Street Rigged?
November 2010 GM IPO: Taxpayers Lose?
October 2010 Can Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac work out foreclosures without more debt?
October 2010 Tom Ajamie Named Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation
August 2010 Don't Be a Financial Swindle Victim
August 2010 Sniffing out the Swindlers
August 2010 Investment Fraud on the Rise
August 2010 COMPLIANCE WATCH: No Pity For Advisers Charging Excess Fees
July 2010 KUHF Business News: Interview with Tom Ajamie
July 2010 BP Suits Top 300 on Claims by Workers, Mall, Sheriff
July 2010 Houston lawyer's book to be published in early August
June 2010 Oil and Water
June 2010 Border Wars
May 2010 Goldman Sachs: Villains or victims?
May 2010 Heads Up... Where Leading Plaintiffs' Lawyers Are Leading Now
May 2010 Goldmine Sachs
May 2010 More Market Regulation
April 2010 Goldman Chief Could Be Out
April 2010 Lawyers Discuss Case Against Goldman
April 2010 Goldman wages PR fight to clear its name
April 2010 A D.C. Insider Joins the Team
April 2010 Can Goldman Beat the Rap?
April 2010 Limelight Update: Thomas Ajamie
March 2010 Top Verdicts of 2009
March 2010 Tom Ajamie Recognized as One of Houston’s Top Lawyers
March 2010 It's Like Giving Money to Madoff
March 2010 A Matter of Time: Law Firms Move Away From the Billable Hour
February 2010 Ruling to Put Spotlight on Fraud Cases
December 2009 What’s Next: The Plaintiff’s Perspective – Criminal Groups Land on Corporate Plaintiffs’ Litigation Hit Lists
November 2009 Thinking Like a Plaintiff
November 2009 Anatomy of a "Sell" Call
November 2009 Bear Trader Fallout
November 2009 Insider Trading Reaction
October 2009 Ajamie Wins Record $112 Million Jury Verdict
October 2009 Regulation D, TICs, and Unlisted REITS
October 2009 Former AMD CEO Allegedly Linked to Galleon
October 2009 Inside an Insider Trading Case
September 2009 Defensive Medicine
September 2009 Ratings Agencies Lose Free-Speech Claim
July 2009 Feds Cracking Down Too Hard on Fraudsters?
June 2009 Madoff Sentenced to 150 Years for Fraud
June 2009 Madoff Sentencing Part 2
June 2009 Madoff to be Sentenced
June 2009 Madoff Victims Address Judge
June 2009 Shareholder Rights: Moral vs. Legal
June 2009 A Star Turn for AIG?
June 2009 Attack on Silicon Valley
June 2009 Gunning for Google
June 2009 CEO Chilling Effect
June 2009 Wall Street Under Pressure
June 2009 Some Surprised by DOJ Tech Hiring
June 2009 Doing Ethical Business in Europe: Are You Ready for Multi-Cultural Legal Operations?
May 2009 Intel Under Fire
May 2009 Stanford Financial CIO Indicted
April 2009 Turf Battle Looms for Receivers in Stanford Case
April 2009 Lawyer Limelight: Thomas Ajamie
April 2009 Uptick Rule Revival?
March 2009 Where’s the Rest of the Madoff Money?
March 2009 Bernard Madoff’s Financial Scam and the Effect on Investors
March 2009 Stanford: Where Was the SEC?
February 2009 Experts: Nacchio Appeal Not a Certainty
February 2009 Class Action Latest Suit Counsel Handling Against Stanford Group Co.
February 2009 Stanford’s Receiver Wants Contributions Returned
February 2009 $8B Stanford Fraud Case Will Take Years to Clean Up
February 2009 Texas Bank Fraud
February 2009 Stanford & Fraud: Feds Say Houston Banker Operated $8 Billion Scam
February 2009 Stanford Financial Group Cost Investors Billions
February 2009 Stanford Fraud Hurts Confidence
February 2009 Tom Ajamie Makes Guest Appearance on Streettalk Live
January 2009 Cuomo Pushes for Merrill to Reject Bonus for Thain
January 2009 Tom Ajamie Makes an Appearance on Bloomberg TV's On the Economy
December 2008 Abolish the SEC?
December 2008 Madoff Charged in $50 Billion Fraud at Advisory Firm
November 2008 Tom Ajamie Makes an Appearance on Bloomberg TV's In Focus
November 2008 Tom Ajamie Discusses Corporate Bankruptcy on Fox Business News
October 2008 Fannie Suit Vexes Regulator, May Pay Shareholders
October 2008 Next Step: Subpoena Time
October 2008 Where The Pros Are Putting Their Own Money
October 2008 Tom Ajamie Named a 2008 Texas Super Lawyer by Law & Politics
August 2008 UBS Joins the Buy-Back Brigade
June 2008 Business Security: How to Prevent a Business Dispute from Resulting in Criminal Charges
June 2008 Tom Ajamie Recognized Among Houston's Top Lawyers for 2008
April 2008 Tom Ajamie Named in 2008 as One of the 100 Lawyers You Need to Know in Securities Litigation
January 2008 Scammed Plaintiffs Look Beyond B-Ds for Restitution – Attorneys Cast a Wide Net to Win Money for Their Clients

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