Jury Returns $1,782,898 Verdict In Case Against Financial Giant UBS and Its Employee Gordon Witherspoon In A Financial Services

Jury Returns $1,782,898 Verdict In Case Against Financial Giant UBS and Its
Employee Gordon Witherspoon In A Financial Services Fraud Case

Baltimore, MD, Nov. 27, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A Baltimore City jury just
awarded a $1,482,898 dollar judgment against Baltimore financial advisor
Gordon Witherspoon, and his employer, UBS, for misconduct regarding a large
life-insurance policy.  Headquartered in Zurich and Basel, Switzerland, UBS
has offices in more than 50 countries, including all major financial centers,
and employs approximately 63,520 people.

Andrew Slutkin
 Andrew Slutkin, Silverman,
 Thompson, Slutkin & White

The jury found Mr. Witherspoon liable for negligence, negligent
misrepresentation, concealment, constructive fraud and conversion.  The jury
also found UBS liable for negligent supervision of Mr. Witherspoon.   The jury
also found that Mr. Witherspoon committed his concealment and constructive
fraud with actual malice, and awarded $300,000 in punitive damages against
him.  

"We are very pleased that the jury held these defendants responsible and
accountable for their flagrant misconduct," said Andrew Slutkin, one of the
members of the trial team and a founding partner of Silverman, Thompson,
Slutkin & White. STSW is one of the leading law firms in the mid-Atlantic
offering clients years of experience, a unique perspective and the will to
win, which taken together provide the way to win for clients.  

"This verdict serves as a strong warning to financial advisors to always put
their clients' interests first, and to financial firms to closely supervise
their employees," said Alex Brown, another STSW partner and member of the
trial team. 

Defendant Gordon Witherspoon, Jr. was an insurance agent who caused a loss of
more than one million dollars from his own sisters-in-law while he was an
employee of the UBS Defendants.  After marrying into a wealthy family, he sold
his sisters-in-law a $4 million life insurance policy (the "Policy") with an
annual premium exceeding $100,000.  Mr. Witherspoon collected a healthy
commission on the sale, but the commission was not enough for him.  

A licensed Maryland insurance agent, Witherspoon preyed on the trust his
family members bestowed on him as a purported insurance expert to divert
hundreds of thousands of additional dollars to himself.   He agreed to serve
as the broker of record for the policy and designated that all correspondence
from the insurance company be sent to him at his home address.  In other
words, he arranged it so that all correspondence pertaining to premiums was
directed to him alone.

Witherspoon told his wife's siblings that their wealthy parents would gift
them the premium, in amounts small enough to escape the gift tax, as an
estate-planning tool.  The siblings, however, needed to be the owners of the
Policy, and to personally pay the premiums, for the parents to transfer their
funds out of their estate, and thus avoid estate tax on these funds.

The Policy premiums were paid through 1995, with no payment in 1996.  Although
paid in 1997, beginning again in 1998 and continuing through to 2003, the
Policy premiums were not paid, resulting in loans being taken out on the
policy to pay the premiums.  Witherspoon admitted he failed to inform
Plaintiffs that premiums were not paid, and that loans were occurring.  

During this time, the UBS Defendants were tasked with supervising Witherspoon,
their employee.  The jury, however, found that UBS failed to supervise
Witherspoon, allowing the premiums to go unpaid while Witherspoon, the broker
of record, refused to tell the policy owners.

About Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White

STSW is a national law firm of renowned, veteran trial and appellate attorneys
handling all aspects of civil and criminal litigation in state and federal
courts, administrative law, business law, regulatory compliance, and Internet
and privacy law. We help our clients identify, avoid and resolve a broad range
of local, state, federal and international legal issues.  STSW is
headquartered in Baltimore with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C.
For more information please call our offices at 410.385.2225, someone is
available to take your call 24 hours a day, or visit us on the web
at www.mdattorney.com. All consultations are complimentary.

A photo accompanying this release is available at:
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=15943

CONTACT: Karen McGagh, 443.632.4217, karen@karenmcgagh.com