On January 21, 2003, WLF filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), asking the agency to investigate circumstances surrounding the filing of a class action lawsuit in Florida against Eckard Drug Stores. The complaint alleges that the lawyers who filed the suit may have been part of a scheme to manipulate the stock price of Eckard’s parent corporation, for the purpose of making money from selling the stock “short” prior to filing suit. WLF, which filed the complaint as part of its Investor Protection Program, argued that such manipulation appears to be rampant among some members of the plaintiffs’ bar.