Ex-Paralegal, 5 Others Accused of Inside Trading

A 24-year-old former paralegal from a prestigious law firm, a deputy U.S. marshal and four others were charged Tuesday in a $3.29-million insider trading lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC said the ex-paralegal, Kerry A. Hurton, gave friends confidential information from the Boston law office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom about plans for a debt-financed takeover of a department store chain.

With that information, the SEC said, at least five people bought 65,020 shares of stock in the chain, Parisian Inc. of Birmingham, Ala., at an average price of $18 a share in June and July, 1987.

When the takeover by Hooker Corp. Ltd. was announced to the public later that summer, Parisian’s stock quickly rose to more than $30 a share, the SEC said.

Return of Profits Sought

The civil complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, seeks to force the defendants to return alleged profits of $823,825 and pay up to three times that amount in penalties for a total of $3.29 million.