Class action lawyer to slammer, oldie but goodie,

Quote:

---

Melvyn I. Weiss, the prominent class-action lawyer, was sentenced on Monday to 30 months in prison by a Federal District Court judge in Los Angeles for his role in concealing illegal kickbacks to plaintiffs.
He was also ordered to pay $9.8 million in forfeitures and $250,000 in fines.

The sentencing nearly concludes an investigation that began some seven years ago of tactics used by Mr. Weiss’s former firm, Milberg Weiss, now called Milberg

Mr. Weiss’s former partner, William S. Lerach, is serving a two-year sentence as a result of the same investigation, and other lawyers have pleaded guilty for roles in what prosecutors described as a criminal conspiracy that lasted for decades. Mr. Lerach was also ordered to forfeit $7.75 million.....

....Mr. Weiss, 72, pleaded guilty to conspiring to make secret payments to lead plaintiffs in such class actions, essentially to reward what prosecutors described as a “stable” of ready clients who held stock in a variety of companies. The payments meant that the lead plaintiffs stood to receive more money than they would if they had simply been members of the class , and that as a result they might not have looked out for the best interests of the entire class as lead plaintiffs are supposed to do.

Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Weiss got $9.8 million as a result of the conspiracy.

Because the law firm had clients ready, it could get to the courthouse first, try to get the lawsuit certified as a class action, apply to be lead counsel to the class of aggrieved investors and demand more in legal fees, Mr. Tobias said. “That just multiples everything,” he said. “It multiplies the attorneys’ fees, it makes the litigation financing work.”

---