Next Milberg Weiss dominoes: Mel Weiss to be indicted tomorrow
My colleague, Fortune editor at large Peter Elkind, has published a piece here reporting the next dominos to drop in the Milberg Weiss investigation: The indictment of name partner and firm founder Melvyn Weiss is expected to be announced tomorrow (Thursday), he reports, while previously indicted name partner Steven G. Schulman is expected to agree to plead guilty.
A quick aside on yesterday’s controversial plea agreement between the government and top defendant Bill Lerach. As reported elsewhere, it is a so-called 11(c)(1)(c) agreement, which means that if the judge approves it, he must order a sentence within the agreed upon range, which here is between 12 months and 24 months. A couple lawyers have commented to me that, despite the “binding” nature of these pleas, judges do, as a practical matter, still have bargaining leverage. That’s because if the judge disapproves such a plea, and says he won’t approve it unless he can impose, say, a 30-month sentence, it’s extremely hard for the defendant to respond by saying, “No, deal’s off, I’m going to trial.” Having crossed the mental Rubicon involved in admitting guilt and beginning to get put everything behind him, it is emotionally difficult to put oneself back into the fighting frame of mind.
I don’t see what the big issue is, and this persecution of Milberg Weiss and some of its named partners is a tempest in a teapot. At the core all that allegedly occurred was that they committed perjury and fraud on the court numerous times over a couple of decades. What’s the big deal about that? So some lawyers allegedly lied to the courts. Has the integrity of the legal system really been compromised because a bunch of judges were hoodwinked by several allegedly false statements and declarations? Yeah, I know, lawyers are officers of the court and are not supposed to lie. So a little bit of truth got bent in the search for the facts, and maybe the public now has a little less confidence in the fairness and integrity of the legal and judicial system that is the foundation of the country. But why prosecute Milberg Weiss over a little principle like that?
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This blog is about legal issues that matter to business people, and it's geared for nonlawyers and lawyers alike. Roger Parloff is Fortune magazine's senior editor (legal affairs). He practiced law for five years in Manhattan before becoming a full-time journalist.
I don’t see what the big issue is, and this persecution of Milberg Weiss and some of its named partners is a tempest in a teapot. At the core all that allegedly occurred was that they committed perjury and fraud on the court numerous times over a couple of decades. What’s the big deal about that? So some lawyers allegedly lied to the courts. Has the integrity of the legal system really been compromised because a bunch of judges were hoodwinked by several allegedly false statements and declarations? Yeah, I know, lawyers are officers of the court and are not supposed to lie. So a little bit of truth got bent in the search for the facts, and maybe the public now has a little less confidence in the fairness and integrity of the legal and judicial system that is the foundation of the country. But why prosecute Milberg Weiss over a little principle like that?