Bloomberg reports that prosecutors have told William Lerach and Melvyn Weiss that there are no plans to indict them in the long-running probe into allegations of kickbacks paid to class representatives. According to the story, however, indictments are on the way for Steven Schulman and David Bershad, senior lawyers at Milberg Weiss (the East Coast branch, not the current Lerach, Coughlin et al). Schulman's counsel reports that he will be charged with Schulman will be charged with fraud "over allegedly knowing about the fee scheme and not taking steps to stop it," and money laundering charges on the ground that "he knew some lawyers were reportedly helping plaintiffs hide the source of money they received from the fees."
The charge of knowing of unlawful conduct and not trying to stop it will make for interesting reading, and probably useful classroom discussion. Stay tuned.
DM