Michael Parrish of the New York Times reports that class action plaintiff lawyer William Lerach has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice “for concealing his secret, illegal payments to Dr. Steven G. Cooperman, who was a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuits for which [the Milberg Weiss law firm] became famous.” Dr. Cooperman previously admitted to “participating in the scheme.” This represents but the latest in a series of guilty pleas obtained by the federal government following the criminal indictment of the plaintiff class action law firm Milberg Weiss, two of its named partners and others. Mr. Parrish reports that criminal charges are still pending against the law firm itself, Melvyn Weiss, and an attorney out of Palm Springs, Paul Selzer, “who is accused of being an intermediary, laundering money between the firm and the on-call plaintiffs.”
Mr. Parrish’s article, entitled “Leading Class-Action Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy,” may be found in Section C of the October 30, 2007 edition of the New York Times.
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