As a long-time watcher of the US legal market, it is very hard to over-state or even explain the importance of the news that Mel Weiss, one of the US’ best known lawyers, is to face criminal charges as part of the federal investigation of the law firm that bears his name.
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 US is that the indicted partners have been confronted with a serious case from prosecutors, but Weiss is not going down without a fight.
