Morgan Stanley Faces Suit

The Ledger

Published Saturday, May 7, 2005

NEW YORK

Morgan Stanley Faces Suit

A Florida law firm has sued Morgan Stanley, seeking $100 million in damages from the Wall Street firm for failing to provide disgruntled clients with evidence that may have been relevant in hundreds of past arbitration cases. The purported class-action suit comes in the wake of Morgan Stanley’s acknowledgment last month that it has found electronic tapes that potentially could contain documents of interest to plaintiffs who claim they received faulty stock-research and investment advice from Morgan Stanley. The lawsuit, filed last week in a Florida court and served to Morgan Stanley on Thursday, alleges that the Wall Street firm violated contracts with clients by not giving them access to the recently discovered documents. It seeks to represent as a class all people who filed arbitration claims against Morgan Stanley since 1999. Darren C. Blum, the Coral Springs lawyer whose firm filed the suit, said he has signed up “dozens” of clients but sees the class-size ultimately expanding to about 1,000. A Morgan Stanley spokeswoman wasn’t immediately available to comment Friday.