Law Firms File Federal Class Action Lawsuit Against Raymond James & Associates, Inc. Alleging Unreasonable and Unauthorized “Processing Fee” Charges in Passport Accounts

The law firms Richman Greer, P.A., of Miami, FL, Blum Law Group of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Place & Hanley, LLC of Naples, FL have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Raymond James & Associates, Inc. (“Raymond James”), alleging that Raymond James charged an unauthorized and unreasonable “Processing Fee” when it executed trades for customers through the customers’ Passport account. The class action lawsuit is styled Jyll Brink v. Raymond James & Associates, Inc., and is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida before U.S. District Judge William P. Dimitrouleas, Case No. 1:15-cv-60334.

The lawsuit was filed on February 17, 2015 on behalf of former and current customers of Raymond James nationwide who executed a Passport Client Agreement (“Passport Agreement”) and owned a Passport account, and who were charged a per transaction Processing Fee (sometimes referred to as “Misc. Fee” on trade confirmations) to execute and clear trades.

The 18-page lawsuit alleges that Raymond James breached its contracts with customers, and breached its duty and the standard of care expected of similar professionals in the community under similar circumstances by charging an unreasonable and unauthorized “Processing Fee” that bore no reasonable relationship to the direct and actual costs incurred by Raymond James in executing and clearing customers’ transactions.