William Lerach, the high-profile lead partner at Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, announced on Tuesday (28 August) that he is stepping down from the firm he started in 2004, writes The Recorder.

The retirement of Lerach, one of America’s best-known – yet also most controversial lawyers – comes during a period of mounting pressure on the plaintiff bar as US prosecutors pursue claims of kickbacks at his former firm, Milberg Weiss.