High-profile US litigator William Lerach – a former partner at embattled class action leader Milberg Weiss & Bershad – is considering retirement, it has emerged.
Former Milberg Weiss name partner Lerach split with his previous firm in 2004 to set up a new practice under the banner Lerach Coughlin Stoia & Robbins.
Lerach Coughlin, which is based in San Diego, has since grown to around 160 lawyers, having completed a merger in New York and won around $12bn (£6bn) in class action settlements.
The news comes with pressure mounting on Milberg Weiss, which has been the subject of a seven-year federal investigation over allegations that the firm made a series of irregular payments to claimants over the last 20 years.
A statement from Lerach Coughlin on 1 June said: “As has been speculated on internet blogs and in newspaper articles, after 35 years of successfully practising law, Bill Lerach is considering retirement. The investigation into allegedly improper activity at Milberg Weiss has continued for almost seven years and Mr Lerach is cognizant of the fact that although our firm has never been a target of this or any other investigation, the investigation should not become a distraction to our firm and its ongoing work.”
Former Milberg Weiss name partner Steven Schulman was last year indicted alongside fellow name partner David Bershad and the firm itself, with prosecutors alleging that the class action leader paid more than $11m (£5.5m) in inducements to claimants.