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Frank Taylor is a shareholder and head of the Briggs and Morgan Financial Markets Group. With 30 years of experience in complex financial markets litigation, class actions, regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings, Frank has defended clients in some of the financial services industry’s most significant cases. To date, he has served as lead trial counsel in over 100 class actions and has tried over 250 matters to verdict, judgment or award in 42 states before federal, state and arbitration forums.
Frank practices primarily in these areas:
Frank is widely respected among major financial, investment and insurance companies throughout the United States. He has solid experience representing firms and individuals in enforcement proceedings brought by regulatory, self-regulatory and various state bodies; judicial actions brought by state attorneys general; and legislative actions. His clients include fund managers, registered investment advisors, independent broker-dealers, futures commission merchants (FCMs), brokers and brokerage firms, credit associations, underwriters, life insurance companies, investment firms, hedge funds, issuers of collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), and manufacturers and issuers of financial instruments.
Financial Markets Counseling and Representation
Frank has dedicated his legal career to advising firms and organizations in the areas of compliance, fund formation, public and private offerings of equity, and debt and convertible securities. He has also been involved in the structuring of financial instruments, roll-ups, investment workouts and manufactured products. Consequently, he has been influential in a number of "firsts" in this area, including assisting in the creation of the first derivatives program and the first investment advisory program offered by a Wall Street firm. He later successfully defended both firms in the first class actions and enforcement proceedings related to these programs. Frank was also the lead in the first roll-up of limited partnership interests into a master limited partnership, and the first registration of the conversion of limited partnership interests into publicly traded common stock.
Regulatory Investigations and Complex Securities Litigation
Regulatory agencies target individuals and companies for not disclosing allegedly important market-related information, maintaining fair dealing, or conducting fraud. Frank is experienced in working with various regulatory and self-regulatory agencies, including the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and other such bodies. In addition, he has extensive experience responding to state attorney general inquiries.
Frank has conducted numerous regulatory and internal investigations, and handled complex financial services litigation involving cases of first impression in arbitrability of disputes, short swing profit disputes under Section 16, breach of contract in purchasing company shares, hedge fund and direct investment issues, fraudulent misrepresentation, sales by unregistered individuals, suitability issues related to the sale of insurance products, breakdown or lack of compliance controls within a firm, theft by officers, insider trading, front-running, Ponzi schemes, ERISA, and selling away of non-existent interests.
Examples of Frank’s successes in this area are extensive. He has represented clients in some of the country’s largest fraud and white collar criminal cases.
Securities Fraud. In March 2007, the U.S. District Court District of Minnesota dismissed actions brought against Briggs client Patterson Companies, Inc., and certain of its officers and directors involving alleged violations of the Exchange Act, ERISA and Minnesota statutes. The original claim stemmed from a drop in the price of Patterson’s common stock that resulted in a $1.6-billion market loss. Frank was lead counsel for the Patterson defendants.
The Keating case is one of the largest securities fraud cases to be taken to trial. Frank was lead trial and liaison counsel for the investment banker defendant in the civil litigation consolidated under multi-district litigation rules in Arizona federal court. Frank also represented the investment banker defendants in state and federal regulatory investigations, as well as the investment banks’ officers, who were targeted in federal criminal investigations. Under Frank’s counsel, these cases were resolved during trial for less than .005% of claimed damages.
Insurance Matters. Frank’s experience with major insurance companies dates back to the failures of Baldwin-United Corporation (where he represented an underwriter of Baldwin-United in regulatory investigations and class actions) and Executive Life Insurance Company (which manufactured and distributed annuities and life insurance products supported by debt instruments underwritten by Drexel Burnham), through the present. Today, his practice involves representing well-recognized insurance product manufacturers in complex litigation and regulatory matters, and workouts involving sales of suitable products to the elderly, market timing, vanishing premiums and general suitability issues. He has also worked closely with senior insurance executives who have testified before various legislative bodies, including the U.S. Congress.
Commodities Fraud. As lead counsel in one of the largest commodities fraud case brought by the CFTC, private litigants and the U.S. attorney general, Frank represented the largest wholesaler in the case and succeeded in having the actions dismissed with no charges brought.
Tax Fraud. In the largest tax fraud action brought in Minnesota, the former CEO of Katun Corporation was found guilty of intentionally omitting millions of dollars in income on his federal income tax returns. This case resulted in an ongoing investigation by the IRS, Criminal Investigations and the Minnesota Department of Revenue. Frank represented a potential target for which litigation and charges were avoided.
RICO Action. Frank represented a Wall Street firm in the largest Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) brought against a client for misrepresentation, theft and fraud.
Class Action Defense
Frank focuses a portion of his practice on class action defense. He has served as lead trial counsel in over 100 class actions suits spanning the financial industry, with issues including price dropping; selling away; Ponzi schemes; the manufacture, offer and sale of financial instruments; derivative actions; home equity stripping; failed limited partnerships; ERISA actions; and others.
Frank represented the second largest broker-dealer wholesaler of Petro-Lewis products in class litigation and enforcement proceedings in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged that the Petro-Lewis Corporation defrauded its shareholders and investors in limited oil and gas partnerships by issuing false statements, as well as failed to file proper reports to the government.
Other class action suits for which Frank has been lead counsel have involved complex litigation and workouts in over 80 failed limited partnerships. Limited partnerships, a common structure used in hedge funds, invest on behalf of high-net-worth individuals. Limited partnerships with which Frank has assisted range from ventures such as oil and gas exploration and real estate development to distressed properties and financial instruments.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Frank has experience with a variety of alternative dispute resolution techniques including arbitration, mediation, early neutral evaluation and conciliation, as well as formal arbitrations and court enforcement of arbitration awards. Often clients are able to achieve fast, equitable resolutions to complex business disputes and Frank has advised clients regarding ADR use and feasibility, as well as represented them in ADR proceedings.
Frank is admitted to practice in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and New York state courts; the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Claims; U.S. Tax Court; Minnesota Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeal for the 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th Circuits; and the U.S. district courts in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota and New York.
He has authored numerous articles related to the financial services industry and is a frequent lecturer for continuing legal education programs. He is a former adjunct professor for William Mitchell College of Law.
In addition to various state bar associations, Frank is a member of the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Council, American Trial Lawyers Association, Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and the Securities Industry Association, Compliance and Legal Division. He has been designated a "Leading American Attorney" and has been listed repeatedly in Minnesota Super Lawyers . Frank has received a preeminent rating by a leading directory of the legal profession, reflecting on his expertise, nature of practice, adherence to professional standards of conduct and ethics, reliability and diligence.
Born in Ottumwa, Iowa, Frank received his B.A. with distinction and with honors from the University of Iowa, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree with distinction from the University of Iowa Law School, where he served as the note and comment editor for the Iowa Law Review.
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