Milberg Weiss co-founder Melvyn Weiss yesterday (15 October) pleaded not guilty in a federal court in
But while Weiss has pledged to clear his name, one of his few remaining co-defendants prepared to plead guilty. Lawyers for Seymour Lazar, one of the individual plaintiffs who allegedly received kickbacks from Milberg Weiss, said yesterday at a status conference that their client, who entered a not guilty plea on Monday morning, had reached an agreement with prosecutors.
According to a source familiar with the case, Lazar's plea will be entered on Thursday (18 October).
Paul Setzer, a former lawyer for Lazar who allegedly facilitated the kickbacks, is also facing charges along with Weiss and the Milberg Weiss firm itself.
Several other people have already pleaded or agreed to plead guilty, including former Milberg Weiss partners William Lerach, David Bershad and Steven Schulman.
At the status conference on Monday, the parties also agreed to push the January trial date to 12 August, 2008. Lawyers for Weiss also said they would be moving to have the case transferred to the Southern District of New York.
Weiss' chief lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, could not be reached for comment but said in a statement last Friday that Weiss was looking forward to his day in court, where he intended a vigorous defense and was confident of acquittal.
In a statement also issued Friday, Weiss, who is free on $1.5m (£730,000) bail, vowed to clear his name and return to his practice, which he said had "established important protections for consumers, shareholders and citizens of this great country".
The New York Law Journal is a
