Former Duncan-Williams Employees Forbidden to Contact Clients

After the 15 employees that made up its public finance group left to work for Coastal Securities, Memphis-based Duncan-Williams Inc. filed for and on the same day received an injunction from the Tennessee Chancery Court in Shelby County, stopping the former workers from contacting Duncan-Williams' clients.

The lawsuit was filed March 20, after the employees left Duncan-Williams to open an office for Coastal Securities in Memphis. According to the complaint for injunctive relief, Duncan-Williams is seeking the hand-over to an independent custodian of all computers and related data that pertain to Duncan-Williams. Duncan-Williams is also seeking $10 million in damages.

Named as defendants are Coastal Securities as well as Michael McGinnis, who had headed Duncan-Williams' public finance group since 1998. The complaint alleges that on March 17, McGinnis submitted his resignation along with those of 14 others, and subsequently erased files on Duncan-Williams' computers.

Information released by McGinnis in an e-mail March 21 said the group was joining Coastal to open offices in Memphis; Little Rock; Jackson, Miss.; and New Orleans. No one at Coastal was available for comment on the matter yesterday.

Duncan-Williams, represented by Allan Wade, a lawyer with Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell in Memphis, is also seeking a National Association of Securities Dealers arbitration panel to be assembled to hear the matter.