Investor Protectors

When they launched their law practice specializing in securities and business litigation in 2008, Christopher Vernon and Susan Healy didn't foresee the depths of the financial crisis.

But their practice grew as things got worse. “Our practice is countercyclical,” Vernon acknowledges. “When the market is doing well, the problems don't come to light.”

Vernon and Healy, both alumni of Naples securities attorney Tom Grady's firm, identify financial products they think harm investors and find their clients through accountants, estate-planning attorneys and personal-finance advisers. (Grady most recently served as interim president of Citizens Property Insurance Corp. and as the commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.)