Here Come the Suits! Headaches Not Over for Former Milberg Lawyers
The WSJ editorial board — none too happy with what it sees as Congress’s lack of response to tort bar transgressions — today applauds prosecutors for their take-down of Milberg LLP, which on Monday inked a $75 million settlement agreement with the government. If there’s a moral to the story, writes the WSJ ed board, it’s this: “Prosecutors should keep digging into tort-bar practices.”
If prosecutors don’t, it’s becoming clear that private plaintiffs might. Earlier this week, two former Milberg antitrust partners, Douglas Richards and Michael Buchman, filed suits against Milberg founder Mel Weiss and the three other former firm leaders — Bill Lerach, David Bershad and Steven Schulman — recently convicted of participating in a scheme that paid kickbacks to class-action plaintiffs, claiming their illegal conduct constituted a breach of their fiduciary duty to their fellow Milberg partners. Click here for an NYLJ story from Tony Lin; here for Richards’s suit; and here for Buchman’s suit.
In an email to the NYLJ, Richards, one of the two ex-partners to sue, wrote: “Private litigation by those injured by the misconduct is just beginning.”
In Buchman’s suit, he named all four of the former name partners as defendants but Richards excluded Bershad. Richards declined to discuss this aspect of the case, but the NYLJ says the exclusion is presumably to preserve diversity jurisdiction, as both Richards and Bershad are New Jersey residents. Both suits, which argue that the defendants owed a duty to their innocent partners to come clean to the government about their activities, asks for $3 million in damages. Lawyers for Weiss, Lerach and Schulman did not return calls for comment Tuesday.
Richards and Buchman are now partners at the New York firm of Pomerantz, Haudek, Block, Grossman & Gross.
Gee, where is the former Traub’ee to sue PT? As for that matter, who at Dreier, will step up and do the same about pending issues that may wack that firm as well?
It would appear that MW is doomed, not matter what they do. Are any clients running to them these days?
How many MW people are trying to beat the exit whistle four alarm bell?
How much money is in the coffers to pay the $75 mil? Is it a over time or lump sum?
Many former entities such as HW, KL and TBF, all just gave up the ghost and went their merry ways. Wonder when or if MNAT is to follow or is MW setting a precedent that entrenching has a whole new meaning?
http://fraud-corruption-mnat.blogtownhall.com/
Hey, Dan, thought you were a lawyer. Read your headline, schmuck, and then read the Complaints again. Milberg was NOT sued by either of these guys. Can you say libel?
Lawyers are like mobsters. They will kill each other over the last dollar
Steven Wright said, “99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.”
Just deserts!!!
Well, cover yourself in gold and platinum attire and walk down a dark alley through the ghetto at night, and what do you expect?
Sorry you’re getting nowhere in your quest for justice. Any news?
The damage that Lerach and friends did to Silicon Valley and the American tech sector is impossible to calculate. Every firm that was damaged by Millberg, Weiss, should file a civil suit and attempt to collect damages as these two former associates are doing.
Pomerantz> LOL Why would you go to MW with all hte news on what was happening. Investigation spanned 9 years. Get real.
You can join me and one of my litigation kennels.
ah ah ah ah ah. I am in ah an ERISA, no 10b5 , no antitrust case. I started the field.
oh stop it. File a class action agaisnt MW on behalf of all associates and paralegals as well. Learn you new tools.
Au contraire Mr. Go,
Justice takes time. Justice against the injustice involving rogue elements of the DOJ takes patience and fortitude.
We made a formal complaint to the LA DOJ, they, in turn, disbanded the Public Corruption Unit and warned career AUSA’s to keep quiet. Phone messages to the threatened AUSA’s reesulted in the FBI calling me, a few weeks later the Region 3 resigned. The GC went to Region 3 to cover their trac’s and then the FBI raided the OSC’s office concerning the connected issues of destruction of whistle blower files against wayward Gov personnel and the 3rd Cir is not so quick this time to dismiss the En Banc request in 07-2360.
Thank G-d, not everyone is corrupt and the Admin power center(s) are diminishing expotentially. They have enjoyed “nolle prosequi” while they are Above the Law, which has now become questionable, due to the fact that the DE Corp dominance may do what they may, until they bark up a tree across the country.
Arrogance is as arrogance does!
Liars being screwed by liars, what is so bad about that. The markets are a sham to begin with from the audit reports to corporate statements, has anyone ever even analyzed how forward earnings are calculated. Silicon Valley dude, your companies were being traded at 100 to 200 p/e ratios based on forward earnings and your mad at Milberg? You ought to look in the mirror and rethink your investment strategy.
BTW Pomerantz is directly involved with the e Toys saga and will have to account for their actions as well Mr. Go!
for us ignorants, can you explainwhat is the etoys saga. You have peaked my interest now.
on behalf of associated of Milberg Weiss. Please contact Doey screwem and Howe LLP for more information oh how we can protect your rights. Get real. This is a joke.
The lawsuit suggests disingenuous posturing to me. How could these guys reasonably rely upon the representations of their former partners? And didn’t they ever read the 1995 PSLRA and its legislative history which provided the backdrop on the issue of plaintiffs in the industry? There is plenty in the PSLRA legislative history illustrating that the law was aimed directly at Milberg Weiss.
Mr. Haas: Though I would not quibble with your right to say what you want, the head of the corruption unit, Ms. Yang went to Gibson Dunn a couple of years ago with a $1.5 million signing bonus and $1 million per year contract. Of course at the time Ms. Yang’s office was investigating a government insider for corruption and the case seems to have disappeared since her signing with the government insider’s law firm Gibson not withstanding the “Chinese Walls”.
The WSJ ed board is almost completely shameless but not quite. Why don’t they just write, “As we have frequently noted, it is important to appreciate that federal prosecutors are unethical and out of control when they pursue corporate investigations in which Fortune 500 companies are the targets, but are upright crusaders for social justice when they engage in the very same practices targeting class action law firms. Remember, it is never about the factual merits of cases or the applicable law. Right and wrong in prosecutorial decisionaking should always be assessed based on whose ox is being gored.”
As a former MW partner, I completely support this lawsuit. Weiss and his cronies lied their asses off in every single partners meeting.
Why doesn’t Hypocritical Oath just admit that many class action lawyers could care less about the perceived wrongs to injured shareholders, and that many of these same class action lawyers merely are using strike suits as a platform from which to line their pockets and to finance their pinky rings. I’m continually amazed how the so-called independent judiciary allows some of these manufactured litigations to proceed, and their rubber stamping of fee applications and attorney fee awards. I guess all those educational conferences underwritten by the class action industry for these judges is paying off.
Right on Hyp Oath. Not surprisingly, the WSJ ed. board is more concerned with “tort bar transgressions” than corporate fraudsters robbing pension funds and investors blind. Let’s not forget Milberg helped take down Enron and WorldCom. Talk about crooks!
Dear Anon @11:39
The classic “pump n dump” of an IPO in 1999 for $8bn went BK March 2001. Speciously the BK Ct. DOJ and SEC permitted the Destruction of Books n Records and then the Exec’s abandoned the estate. Being void of a client, with so pre and post petition premeditations, the nefarious hordes raped the estate, innocent creditors and shareholders. Yours truly was hired as the liquidation consultant. When the perjury and fraud was uncovered, they offered an inducement. I said no and damnation began. Like the MW affair, the Courts were willing to forgive the “powers that be” an “OOPS”. The Region 3 and Courts, instead of disqualifying admitted acts of false affidavits (more than 34)and confessed deception of the court(fraud) the DOJ trial attorney gave one law firm implied, blanket, immunity and will not even dare mention the other law firms name. Now the tide is turning as the FBI is involved and Senators have written letters to the new AG seeking explanations for the dismantling of the Public Corruption Unit. The escuse given is that the disbanding of the Unit was to make the DOJ more efficient. There are 100 felony acts all documented by Court docket irrefutable records….The question is, as in the MW affair, is not if they will go down, it is when and how far…The TBF law firm is defunct and one part of the firm is now at Dreier, doing Model Rule questionable acts in the NY Sup Ct case 601805/2002 worth $800 million and POM is the co-counsel. The push to nominate one of the participants as a Fed Justice is also failing.
The WSJ reported on the illicit, impunity item July 25, 2005 by Joe Pereira
massages for all.
It is so nice to see the tables turned on these piranhas. The comments by “way to go” if truthful shed some interesting light on Milberg et al. The feds should keep up the pressure. The untold damage done to companies, shareholders and employees is immense. And I am not just talking financial. You will never be able to calculate the costs. Milberg is just the top of the food chain. They were not the only ones doing it.
Hey,Laser at 10:02 a.m. — what’s the deal with Dreier that you are referring to?
Fantastic news. Keep taking these scumbags down farther.
Anon @2:19
The TBF law firm (T’s group) was acquired by Dreier, the (F group) went to Olshan Frome and B the NY State Bar says you have to call the US Embassy at the Philippine’s.
The DOJ gave TBF illegitimate, implied, blanket, immunity and has sought to cover up the affair by the DOJ being an appellee with the parties that have Confessed to supplying 34 false affidavits and admitted they “intentionally” deceived the courts. As is reflected in In re Middleton (6th Cir 1991) affirmed by US Sup and the 3rd Cir, a Federal Justice is prohibited from avoiding clear and “unambiguous” statutory language. As the 11th Cir Judge just stated in the Walden case, lying is lying, does not matter under what context the Oath was given…
Dreier, accepting T’s role and his implied immunity, is continuing the bogus endeavors assisting in the perpetration of perjury n fraud. When the poooh hits the fan, in short order, Dreier will face the same arduous pathway of TBF, MW and others who “believed” they are Above the Law. Once the ATL premise is made invalid, how much leniency can Dreier and Pom really expect to receive under the “guise” of “hey, we that the immunity was transistional”? Just because rogue elements and a Justice in the system, by an act of imprimatur, place their names upon a brief, opinion or stipulation saying they give their blessing to a cause does not make it legal or immune. Yes, it is “our” case, However, this is everyone’s system of Justice they are corrupting and daring anyone to do anything about it. The axiom of the “long arm of the law” can most certainly reach around walls of cronyism and corruption.
Thanks for the post l aser H aas. Very informative.
I think these chapters should be finsihed up soon Good ridance.
While the remarks on the Laser Townhall website state a declaration, the key issue is there is no rebuttal by anyone. Including the Delaware US Attorney items documented by the DOJ website itself. Wonder what RBandA at 4:07 knows that Laser doesn’t,
I gave Lerach and Weiss lots of inside direction, while working with a band of short sellers to attack companies all before I was fired from CNBC.
I wish them luck with their suit. When I left Milberg Weiss and tried to join so-called “white shoe” firms as a lateral, I was blackballed by management committee members who said “I won’t have a former Milberg Weiss partner at our firm because they are all tainted.”
Nobody knows nuthin and now they sue their partners. They must be shocked, shocked and appalled that Mr Weiss and Mr. Lerach were doing these things. Any due diligence before taking Mel’s tainted partnership?
The link to this page was “Milberg hit with lawsuits”. Please change this. The Firm itself was not hit with the lawsuits, the former partners only are implicated in the recent civil suits by former partners.
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