NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- The securities arbitration law firm of Klayman & Toskes, P.A. ("K&T") (http://www.nasd-law.com) announces that Smith Barney/Citigroup (NYSE:C) customers who lost in excess of $1 million should 'opt out' of the WorldCom class action case No. 02 Civ. 3288 DLC to pursue individual securities arbitration claims against Smith Barney/Citigroup. The deadline to 'opt out' of the class action is September 1, 2004.
K&T is currently pursuing individual securities arbitration claims worth over one hundred million dollars against Smith Barney/Citigroup on behalf of many high-net-worth investors and large groups of current and former MCI/WorldCom employees who held large positions in WorldCom stock. These investors have filed 'opt out' notices to be excluded from the class action case.
Securities arbitration law experts contend that it makes economic sense to 'opt out' of a class action if you have a very large claim. For small claimants, however, the cost of pursuing an individual lawsuit may be larger than the amount that they could recover. Investors also need to be aware of the statute of limitations for filing these types of claims.
In April 2003, K&T authored a detailed study on the appropriate path for securities dispute resolution against Wall Street brokerage firms. A link to the study is available at the firm's website (http://www.nasd-law.com/) under "The Process" heading at the end of the first paragraph.
K&T has offices in California, Florida and New York and represents investors throughout the nation before New York Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers arbitration panels. If you wish to discuss this announcement or have information relevant to our securities arbitration claims, please contact Lawrence L. Klayman, Esquire of Klayman & Toskes, P.A., 888-997-9956, or visit us on the web at http://www.nasd-law.com/.