Will Ferrell and trust for Larry David among group ordered to pay $600K in JPMorgan legal fees (DB, NYP)

By Nancy Tartaglione

A three-member arbitration panel on Wednesday ordered Will Ferrell, his wife, a business manager and a trust for Larry David to pay JPMorgan $600,000 in legal fees after the group was denied in a claim against the bank.

According to The New York Post, the case against JPMorgan was first brought by LA business manager Matt Lichtenberg in 2008. The claim asserted the bank had "engaged in unauthorized and unsuitable purchases" of $18 million of preferred securities.

In 2009, Lichtenberg, who the Post says is known for real estate deals involving Ferrell, added Ferrell, his wife Viveca Paulin and a trust owned by David to the case.

However, the claim was denied, resulting in the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) panel's order.

Further, in what The New York Times' DealBook blog calls a highly unusual move, the panel also ordered the group to pay $22,500 for "discovery abuse and failure to comply with the forum's discovery rules and procedures."

Although Finra didn't say why it ruled for JPMorgan, it suggested that Lichtenberg -- who was the only one of the claimants to appear at the hearing -- or his lawyers were lackadaisical in supplying the evidence, says the Post.

DealBook reports that when it contacted Ferrell's business manager, he said, "It doesn't sound familiar to me, I'll look into it."

DealBook also notes that Ferrell is not the only celebrity to lock horns with Wall Street recently. In October, Larry Wilcox, of "CHiPs," was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of securities fraud and paying illicit kickbacks in order to manipulate the price of penny-stock companies.

Also in October, Larry Hagman won $11.6 million in a Finra securities arbitration case against Citigroup.