Pastore LLC represents the  CEO of a technology company and the company before the Second Circuit in a high-stakes SEC enforcement appeal. The case challenges a Connecticut federal judge’s reliance on post-trial “new facts” to impose a $441,000 judgment, including disgorgement and civil penalties. Pastore, hired after Cozen O’Connor handled the trial, argued that the district court violated the defendant’s constitutional rights by issuing a permanent industry ban and securities law injunction without jury consideration.

The SEC admitted post-trial that it could not identify harmed investors but later produced a declaration claiming 2,967 traders lost $1.69 million—without linking those losses to the alleged fraud. The agency’s shifting position contradicts the Second Circuit’s precedent in SEC v. Govil, which requires demonstrable pecuniary harm for disgorgement. The trial court’s reliance on financier loans, rather than investor losses, further undermines the judgment.

Pastore asserts that the district court’s process deprived the defendants of due process and exceeded its authority. The firm is aggressively challenging the SEC’s approach and seeking to overturn the ruling before the Second Circuit.

Pastore LCC Claims Jury Trial Was Wrongfully Denied

Pastore LLC represents a co-founder of an investment firm in challenging a $10.4 million judgment in Connecticut superior court, arguing that the trial court improperly denied his right to a jury trial. The dispute centers on whether both parties had provided mutual written consent to a jury trial before the court unilaterally removed the case from the jury docket in February 2023. The plaintiffs, who initially sought a jury trial, later withdrew their claim and secured a bench trial verdict in August 2023.

Pastore LLC argued to the Connecticut appellate court in February that the trial court’s decision was both legally unprecedented and prejudicial, as it deprived the defendant of due process. The firm contends that the plaintiffs leveraged the procedural misstep to avoid a jury trial, after previously failing to secure a favorable outcome in federal court on similar claims, a jury trial won by Pastore in 2019.

The appeal remains under review by the Connecticut Appellate Court.

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