Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Barsness Law Group Expands Angel Finance, Private Equity, and Venture Capital Services Into Orange County

LOS ANGELES—September 15, 2009--The Barsness Law Group announced today that it has opened a branch office in Irvine, California. This expands the Los Angeles based law firm’s practice to focus on the growing Orange County technology, start up, and emerging growth needs.

“Many of today’s Fortune 500 companies started during economic recessions. It seems that creativity and fresh new business ideas are brought to the forefront when existing businesses are not doing well,” said partner Chris Barsness, Esq. “There are many individuals, start-ups, and emerging growth or existing companies that need business and legal advice. Whether they need help putting together a business plan, raising money, forming a corporation, going public, or negotiating and closing a large venture capital transaction, our firm seeks to provide not only legal advice, but sound business guidance. We do so while avoiding the traditional law firm structure.”

“No small business wants to pay $300 to $600 per hour for a lawyer to write a business plan. We create flexible fee arrangements to provide services similar to a combination of a management consulting and law firm. We are excited to be here to assist the local technology and small business base. Even existing businesses may simply be looking to cut their legal budget and we provide a more cost-effective service as compared to a typical mid-sized to large law firm.”


http://www.labusinessadvice.com


Tuesday, September 8, 2009

SEC finds another ponzi investment fraud scheme

The SEC is still finding Ponzi schemes and other investment fraud, even months after the Madoff scam was unveiled.

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a Brooklyn money manager for running a $40 million Ponzi scheme in which he promised approximately 800 investors guaranteed high returns from safe, liquid investments, but instead spent their money on real estate, his pornography mail order business, and other interests.


The SEC alleges that Philip G. Barry and his firms Leverage Group, Leverage Option Management Co., Inc, and North American Financial Services defrauded investors, including senior citizens and retirees, by selling securities in Leverage investment funds. According to the Commission's complaint, Barry provided fake account statements to investors that recorded growing account balances and concealed that Barry had not been trading securities at all for several years. Neither Barry nor any of his related firms is registered with the SEC in any capacity.

Chris Barsness
www.labusinessadvice.com