Class Action Criminality‪.‬

I. INTRODUCTION Long before their arraignments on federal felony charges last year, class action lawyers Mel Weiss and Bill Lerach stood before the court of public opinion accused of abusing the legal system to enrich themselves. The partners received national attention for filing shareholder lawsuits against some of this country's best known corporations, usually alleging that top company management defrauded investors. Over the course of some three decades, Weiss and Lerach recovered on behalf of shareholders billions of dollars from corporate defendants; companies sued by the partners almost always chose to settle the fraud claims rather than risk judgment at trial. Compensated with multimillion dollar fee awards, Weiss and Lerach built their law firm, Milberg Weiss, (1) into a litigation juggernaut, became multimillionaires themselves, and contributed generously to Democratic Party candidates and causes. In the process, Weiss and Lerach made numerous powerful enemies in executive suites from coast to coast. Directors and officers of public companies reviled Milberg Weiss and railed against defending lawsuits filed by its lawyers. (2)