Class Action Lawyers Under Investigation

The government will not indict William S. Lerach (of Lerach Coughlin et al) nor Melvyn I. Weiss (of Milberg, Weiss, Bershad & Schulman) for their practices in bringing securities class actions.  At issue are referral fees among lawyers and payments to individuals that agree to act as lead plaintiff in the class actions.  Lerach separated from Milberg Weiss in 2004 after a bitter fight.  Lerach is lead counsel in the shareholders suits against Enron and is lead counsel in class actions against Wall Street banks and brokerage firms for the misbehavior of stock research analysts. The government may still indict David G. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman and may indict the partnership Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schuman however.