In the news today two famous California lawyers -- Bill Lerach and Stephen Yagman -- are said to be heading to jail. Yagman, the fearless civil rights lawyer and gadfly, famous for his intemperate attacks on the judiciary, was convicted of hiding assets in the bankruptcy process for himself and his firm and the government has asked that he serve nine years in jail. (If you ever want to shock your legal ethics students, read them the footnote from In re Yagman that quotes his description of a sitting federal judge.)
Lerach, who pled guilty to participating in kickbacks to class reps, faces one to two years. While we're at it, we might as well mention Lynne Stewart, who was sentenced to 28 months -- but the government, which sought an insanely high 30 years for her, has appealed that sentence.