Kentucky Advisor Sues LPL Financial for Alleged Corporate Raid
From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law
A Kentucky advisor, Mark Lamkin, has filed a lawsuit against LPL Financial, claiming the independent broker-dealer orchestrated a corporate raid that resulted in the loss of his firm’s entire book of managed assets.
Lamkin, through his firms Lamkin Wealth Management and Louisville Wealth Management (collectively, LWM), alleges that LPL conspired with three LWM employees to take their clients, effectively reducing LWM’s managed assets from $450 million to zero in one day. Financial Planning reports that Lamkin’s firms were affiliated with LPL from 2001 until September 2018.
The complaint states that the dispute began when Lamkin expressed concerns about LPL’s failure to properly vet transactions made by another LWM advisor, Don Woods.
According to Financial Planning, Woods was fined $10,000 by FINRA for allegedly inflating client assets on applications for real estate investment trusts. Lamkin claims his attempts to protect clients from these transactions led to bad blood between LPL and LWM, making his firm a target for LPL.
Lamkin began searching for a new broker-dealer in 2017, during which time he alleges that three employees—Jonathan Upton, Gregory Smith, and Bruce Lindsay—assured him they would remain with LWM. However, Lamkin claims the trio, with LPL’s support, planned to steal LWM’s clients. LPL terminated its relationship with Lamkin in August 2018. On December 5, 2018, Lindsay, Smith, and Upton left LWM without notice, leading to the dramatic loss of managed assets.
Lamkin is seeking $10 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages.
Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.
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