Mel Weiss to Milberg: Show Me The Money!
Mel Weiss may be due to report to prison soon, but he’s still fighting to share in Milberg’s legal fees.
Weiss in June was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in Milberg’s scheme to pay kickbacks to clients. Also in June, the firm reached a deal with the government in which it admitted wrongdoing in exchange for prosecutors agreeing to drop charges. At the time, Milberg blamed the wrongdoing on its former partners, including Weiss. “Our former partners who were prosecuted were deliberately concealing their illegal activities from us,” Milberg said in a statement at the time.
However culpable, Weiss now seeks a court order (link not available), according to a recently filed petition in New York state court, that he is entitled to a share of Milberg’s fees in many pending cases, including the Enron and Exxon Valdez litigation. And Milberg has agreed to such payments, according to a 2007 document that Weiss filed in suport of his application.
In an editorial today, WSJ takes Milberg to task. Milberg “got off easy, not least because it finally cut ties with the partners (including Weiss) it blamed for the scheme,” WSJ writes. Yet, “even as Milberg was pinning the blame on these criminals and telling Justice it had thrown them overboard, the law firm’s remaining partners were agreeing to pay millions to Weiss going forward. Apparently crime does pay.”
But not everyone shares the WSJ ed board’s view. Milberg was “not the Gambino family, in which you’d say that everything they touch is criminally tainted,” says Wayne State University law prof Peter Henning, of the White Collar Crime Prof Blog. “You can’t use the criminal law to necessarily render someone a penniless beggar unless you can show everything they gained was by illegal means.”
Criminal lawyer Michael McGovern adds that if prosecutors “didn’t go after these legal fees, then there is no apparent reason why he can’t receive the funds.”
Sanford Dumain, a member of Milberg’s executive commitee, just issued the following statement: “In October 2007, Milberg LLP and Melvyn Weiss entered into an agreement by which Mr. Weiss gave up all management rights in the Firm. . .Mr. Weiss’s equity stake in the firm was reduced and he gave up any right to future payments under the then-existing partnership agreement, in return for payment to him of a reduced percentage of net revenues received by the Firm from cases pending at the time.”
He added that Milberg “is evaluating pursuing claims against responsible parties to defray costs of its settlement with the government.”
Query: Were any of the legitimate cases (where plaintiffs were not paid) financed in whole or in part by the proceeds from the illegitimate cases (where the plaintiffs were paid)?
Wow, a quote from a prof at Wayne State. Now there sounds like a guy whose opinion I would value. What an idiot. You certainly can, and should use the criminal law to make someone like Mel Weiss, whose entire career and fortune was based on fraud, a penniless beggar.
Justice rec’d what justice asked for. The man plead guilty and will serve his time. Vindictiveness and envy is not a tool of justice as emotion never should be. It amazes me how the WSJ is reluctant to address skullduggery that fleeced a public company, is connected to judicial nominations and the shutting down of the Public Corruption Unit and yet seeks the to impale a party for a crime that many debated on the severity of. The only person that should gripe about handing out Mel Weiss his partnership share is Milberg Weiss. It is absurd to effort a broad stroke of unending punishment just because of the level of accomplishment of the person in question.
Of all people on this board, anyone having a reason to despise counsels and their unjust rewards, I am most certainly more justified than any in the right to cry foul when justice is due. If I can suffer through what I have done and see how bizarre this notion is, everyone else should be able to do the same.
The mans career is over, he will be extremely blessed to come out of club fed healty and his debt to society paid. It is not the matter of money or pound of flesh that is at issue here. What is at question is Principals. You either have them or you don’t. There are many, Many more injustices in the world to pursue Mr WSJ and this one note of contention is shameless sensationalism at its worse. Tackle the Code changes in CA on mortgages in BK, the Jack Thompson affair, heck bring back Yu or give us an interview with Scruggs on why it happened. Dang nabbit, do the story in Dealaware that is Screaming at you. But stay away from crowd pleasing witch hunting, PLease? Sheesh!
http://fraud-corruption-mnat.blogtownhall.com/
Before you cast stones 4:45 and delight in using contrarian terms to describe the highly educated who hide not behind anonymity, look at your own acts in life. Fortunately the matter of justice requires evidence. The unqualified statement that Weiss’s entire life was a fraudulent endeavor assumes items not in evidence. Be objective and on point or remain silent as slanderous remarks serve no one.
Hey H aas or whatever your name is, it is Delaware.
The WSJ editorial page manifests an irrational and hysterical hatred whenever it addresses the subject of Milberg Weiss, and as a result it forfeits any credibility on the subject.
The spelling of Deal-aware was intentional, sorry Peanut!
Yerrrmmmm.
As for the name, the good ole WSJ has protocols that are anti me, that has relaxed, somewhat, due to the fact that there is a tremendous buzz out there about the case and the investigations that have begun.
On any given day our blogs and websites are now visited by the DOJ, the Admin of US Courts, the Senate Sgt of Arms, the Press, Law Professors, the State of Delaware, Maryland and even our adversaries.
With the recent key resignation and the FBI raid on the OSC’s office one week after a new Trustee walked in, when the hammer of Justicee comes down in this case, all the many gremlins that stuck their hands out of their holes to steal a piece of the pie will most likely get slammed big time.
Fortunately for me, they all, through their Above the Law mentaliity, left a huge paper trail. That is the problem with being above the law, once you no longer have impunity you have no place to run or say “oops”.
I am about to have my 15 minutes and all those that barked the case was invalid with switch gears and roast me for being a whistle blower.
The thing is, when they are stealing your money and the money of those who were hired to protect, being labled a whistle blower is not the correct term.
All the parties that partook in the e Toys scuttle feast will wish they had it as easy as MW. I do not wish them jail time either. Just return what you stole and exit the profession NOW!
I strongly urge the hundreds of companies who were extorted and settled to file a class action against these rats.
It is nice to see snakes turn on snakes. All of these people committed a crime. I just wish Congress would open up hearings on the matter, but it seems like Chairman Conyers is a little too busy to focus on Milberg Weiss mess.
Weiss, Milberg and Lerach created this situation and many others followed them through the door. Class action reform has a long way to go.
That is a legitimate issue Phillip. Let the parties that are in question, seek what they may, if entitled.
Although it would be ironic for the party who plead guilty to doing errant class actions to lose a case of a Class Action!
The case would be RICO and its already been filed and it is being litigated.
Lets hope the WSJ keeps this story alive and maintains its status as bearer of the torch for businesses. Kudos for the wisdom of the Journal and its leaders for keeping this story in the news. Thank you!!!
This is a first for me, seeing a criminal keep his “take” by the government. Only the scientologists beat the IRS, now Milberg Weiss, what a great twosome.
Down with class actions! I think the investment banks will do a great job of policing themselves.
Stop hiding behind lack of byline when you print commentary about the firm now only known as “Milberg.” You dance a little too close to libel when you go off the way you do - as if you were posting on a blog. In the meantime, why don’t you scrutinize the real estate business practices starting with loan-originating banks and ending with investment banks who bought securitized mortgages that imploded our economy. That would be some thorough-going reporting, for a change. Your colors are starting to bleed.
Why didn’t all those innocent Milberg lawyers who purportedly are trained in sniffing out fraud scrutinize the legal practices of Messrs. Lerach, Weiss, Bershad & Schulman that allegedly transpired for three decades? Did any one at Milberg Weiss question whether there was an illicit financial motivation for some of the serial plaintiffs who repeatedly showed up on the captions? Wasn’t the 1995 PSLRA enacted in part precisely because of the concern by some over the use of paid plaintiffs in the industry, and didn’t some of the innocent Milberg Weiss lawyers question whether this practice was occurring at its firm?
After working at the firm for over 10 years now I understand why they would not disclose the firm’s financial condition. I have to wonder did William (Bill) Matshcki CFO not know of what was going on. He was in deep at hiding the money and playing the illegal games of the firm. I guess crime does pay.
Mr. Weiss,
I think of you every day and know you will get through this life challenge…you are a strong man who has done so much good for people straight from your heart (acts that are not covered in blogs etc) Please stay tough, stay strong and know that there are a bunch of people out here who know god gives us only what we can handle. He knows you can handle this…he knows you will come out even stronger.
