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May 19, 2006

Locust Swamp Getting Drained

Swarms of locusts used to terrorize America's heartland, wiping out entire crops, reducing prosperous farmers to ruin with their voracious appetites. Fortunately locusts aren't a problem for us anymore, thanks to development. As the Great Plains were settled, the swamps where locusts breed were drained, radically reducing their numbers.

Now we face a new type of locust, every bit as willing to make itself fat by devouring the fruits of others' constructive labor. But one of the swamps it breeds in is about to be drained.

Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman is the nation's leading class-action securities law firm. Its lawyers have looted an estimated $45 billion from companies. This helps explain why trial lawyers are able to bestow such generous gifts upon the Democratic Party, which in turn does its best to block tort reform.

But drunk with greed, Milberg Weiss has been getting carried away, and now stands charged with paying over $11 million in kickbacks to three crooks who served as plaintiffs in upwards of 150 lawsuits that generated $216 million in legal fees.

The firm and partners David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman stand accused of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. The named partners could get up to 20 years in jail for racketeering.

Here's some poetic justice: this could lead to a class-action lawsuit against Milberg Weiss. However, it's probably the case that the partners' personal assets are protected and the firm itself does not have much cash, despite the billions it has bled out of productive corporations, resulting in a drain on the economy and higher prices for all.

Posted by Van Helsing at May 19, 2006 11:27 AM

Comments

Posted by: Jael at May 19, 2006 3:44 PM

Posted by: qrswave at May 19, 2006 4:15 PM

Posted by: mickey at May 19, 2006 6:42 PM