Kivenson

MEMORANDUM ***

Bruce R. Talley (“Appellant”) appeals the district court’s order imposing a $228,000 bond for the appeal of an order barring his claims following the settlement of a class action involving a complex investment fraud scheme. Appellant now argues that the district court imposed an improper appeal bond pursuant to Rule 7 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure (“Rule 7”) because such bonds may not include prospective attorney’s fees absent a fee-shifting statute awarding attorney’s fees to a prevailing party as “costs.” The order will be vacated and the case remanded to the district court.

In the mid-1990s, several entities joined to develop a series of fraudulent bond offerings. One of the principals of these offerings was Appellant’s employer, an underwriting firm, for which Appellant worked as a bond trader. It was eventually revealed that the principals had been embezzling the funds from these bond investments and had lied about the nature of the offerings. Appellant claimed to have been unaware of his employer’s improper *630 conduct. Appellant’s employer filed for bankruptcy and Appellant’s clients discontinued their business relationships with him.

An…