SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C.
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Rel. No. 42121 / November 10, 1999
Admin. Proc. File No. 3-8573-EAJ
In the Matter of
RUSSO SECURITIES, INC.
128 Sand Lane
Staten Island, New York 10305
OPINION OF THE COMMISSION
EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT PROCEEDINGS
Registered broker-dealer, who had prevailed in Commission disciplinary
proceedings, sought an award of attorneys' fees and expenses under the
Equal Access to Justice Act. Held, the application is granted in the
amount of $32,781.90.
APPEARANCES
Charles B. Manuel, Jr., for Russo Securities, Inc.
Christian J. Mixter, for the Division of Enforcement
Appeal filed March 30, 1998
Briefing completed October 9, 1998
I.
Russo Securities, Inc. ("RSI" or "the firm"), a registered
broker-dealer, appeals from the decision of an administrative law
judge rejecting its claim for attorneys' fees and expenses under the
Equal Access to Justice Act ("EAJA").
In the underlying action, we dismissed charges that RSI aided and
abetted and was a cause of a fraudulent scheme by the Cooper
Companies, Inc. The EAJA provides that eligible respondents who
prevail over an agency in an adversary adjudication may recover
reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, unless the agency's position
in the underlying action was "substantially justified" or "special
SNIPPETS:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ACT PROCEEDINGS
Registered broker-dealer, who had prevailed in Commission disciplinary proceedings, sought an
Charles B. Manuel, Jr., for Russo Securities, Inc.
Russo Securities, Inc. ("RSI" or "the firm"), a registered broker-dealer, appeals from the
In the underlying action, we dismissed charges that RSI aided and abetted and was a cause of
The law judge nevertheless denied RSI's EAJA request because, among other things, RSI failed
These documents establish that, as of December 12, 1994, the date the underlying proceeding
As the Division acknowledges in its response, these documents moot its earlier argument that
Simon S. Kogan was the sole counsel who appeared for RSI in the underlying administrative
Kogan filed two declarations in support of RSI's EAJA application, the first of which claimed
The only documentation submitted by Kogan consisted of copies of a series of bills to RSI for
RSI's petition for review of the law judge's initial decision indicates that the claimed
However, as the law judge pointed out, this was not an accurate figure since Kogan's billings
After filing RSI's petition for review in this matter, Kogan withdrew as counsel.
We conclude that RSI is entitled to reimbursement of $24,106.50 for Kogan's professional
RSI seeks reimbursement of $10,815 for the services of a second attorney, Alan M. Berkun.
As stated in Kogan's initial declaration in support of RSI's claim, Kogan "wrote all the
It argues that Section 27 of the Securities Exchange Act bars recovery of these items since
Reimbursement is sought for a round trip plane ticket from New York to Washington, D.C. on
No reason is advanced as to why a plane trip was necessary to file a brief, or why the ticket
We reject or sustain their arguments to the extent that they are inconsistent or in accord
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