Investment Banking/Placement Agent Arbitration and Litigation

Lax & Neville LLP represents clients in disputes arising out of investment banking and placement agent agreements in both arbitrations and state and federal court litigations. Both investment banks and placement agents are firms that assist different parties in raising financial capital. Often businesses will seek the services of investment banks or placement agents because they need investor capital to grow. However, disputes arise in situations where the fundraising was either successful or even unsuccessful.

Investment banks and placement agents carry subtle distinctions. Specifically, an investment bank is a financial firm that assists individuals, entities and governments raise capital by underwriting or acting as the client’s agent in the issuance of securities. A placement agent is a firm that assists either fund managers or private companies seeking to raise capital through a private placement. In essence, the placement agent acts as an intermediary between investors and those seeking to raise money for their funds or companies. Both investment banks and placement agents are typically compensated through a fee arrangement based on the amount of capital they raise. Sometimes these agreements are very straightforward and sometimes they are complicated and carry performance-based incentives. In many circumstances, disputes arise regarding the compensation owed to the investment bank or placement agent hired to help raise money. Often times, these disputes are governed by the investment banking/placement agent agreement between the parties and the reasonable expectations of the parties when they entered into the contract. Our attorneys have the experience and expertise to evaluate investment banking and placement agent disputes.

In many investment banking and private placement disputes, the parties have signed arbitration agreements that require private arbitration, frequently at the American Arbitration Association (AAA). The rules of arbitration are different than state or federal court litigation. In order to succeed, an attorney representing a party in an investment banking or placement agent dispute should have experience and familiarity with the rules of the forum hearing the dispute. The partners of Lax & Neville LLP have litigated, arbitrated and won tens of millions of dollars in awards for clients at AAA arbitrations. Our firm successfully represented a placement agent in an international AAA arbitration in which the placement agent was awarded approximately $10,400,000 in damages, which included placement agent compensation, attorneys fees and costs and a $50,000 sanction against the respondent, plus a total of 4,080,000 in Warrants.

If you believe you may have a investment banking or private placement dispute, please contact our attorneys at for a free consultation.