As a long-time watcher of the
For those that have not followed the case, the 72-year-old class action legend is to face federal charges as the most high-profile target of the long-running investigation into alleged kickbacks at his firm, Milberg Weiss. Almost as extraordinary, his former colleague Bill Lerach, the one man at the plaintiff Bar that could rival Weiss for profile and controversy, has this month agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy charges. Two other senior partners have already entered guilty pleas. The word from all informed observers in the
The reverberations of the case will be felt culturally and economically through the world’s largest legal market for years to come. In the
The economic impact of the siege of Milberg Weiss will likewise be considerable and is already cited as a major factor in the securities slump. Some are betting that litigation related to private equity, hedge funds and slice ’n’ dice debt products, together with a renewal in bankruptcy, will take up the slack. That’s entirely possible, but is still unproven. If such predictions fail to become reality, and the
Far more importantly, it would mean US law firms shifting to a more cyclical model similar to City law firms. Which power block of the global legal profession that shift would benefit is anyone’s guess, but I wouldn’t bet on the status quo.
