Tr?id=566623520170033&ev=PageView&noscript=1

Salomon & Ludwin Sues Former Employees Despite Being a Protocol Move

Posted on July 15th, 2024 at 10:16 AM
Salomon & Ludwin Sues Former Employees Despite Being a Protocol Move

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

According to WealthManagement, a team of advisors has left Salomon & Ludwin (S&L), a registered investment advisor, to establish their own RIA, Founders Grove Wealth Partners, with backing from Dynasty Financial Partners.

S&L filed a lawsuit against the four former employees and Founders Grove, alleging they misappropriated trade secrets to solicit clients and breached their employment agreements. S&L claims the team misused proprietary information and violated non-solicitation agreements.

According to the complaint, the team previously managed $750 million in assets at S&L and has chosen Charles Schwab for custody at Founders Grove. Founders Grove recently joined the Protocol for Broker Recruiting, which allows departing advisors to take certain client information and solicit clients, even if their previous agreements prohibited such actions; S&L is also a Protocol member. Protocol allows for the smooth transfer of certain customer information and permits the solicitation of clients by the departing advisors. However, the litigation occurring despite both firms being Protocol members suggests that there are complexities or disputes that the Protocol alone could not resolve.

As reported by WealthManagement, S&L alleges that the departing team breached their duty of loyalty and employment contracts, taking client information and soliciting clients. The lawsuit also accuses Thompson of deliberately delaying the development and updating of S&L’s training manuals and transition processes to hinder the firm's response to their departure and make it difficult to hire new staff.

This case underscores the legal complexities surrounding the transition of financial advisors notwithstanding the assumption that the move will be according to the Protocol for Broker Recruiting.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next
Quotes Bigger

I want to extend a tremendous thank you for your dedication, professionalism, hard work and patient demeanor through this challenging time. It was enjoyable interacting with everyone on your team, this certainly helped while dealing with the situation and working towards resolution.

Dan M.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

1779287606 Law
May 20, 2026
FINRA Sanctions Ameriprise for Supervisory Failures in Variable Annuity Exchanges

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Ameriprise Financial Services and ordered restitution to resolve allegations that the firm failed to adequately supervise certain variable annuity exchange recommendations.

1779216500 Law
May 19, 2026
SEC Fines Ally Invest Advisors Over Undisclosed Robo-Advisor Conflict

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) imposed a $500,000 penalty on Ally Invest Advisors after finding that the firm failed to disclose a material conflict of interest tied to its Cash-Enhanced robo-advisor accounts.

1779206639 Law
May 19, 2026
Federal Court Upholds FINRA's Authority in Alpine Securities Challenge

A federal court has rejected a broad constitutional challenge to the authority of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), delivering a significant victory for the self-regulator and reinforcing its enforcement framework.