» William Shannon Lerach was born in 1946 in Pittsburgh. His father, Richard Lerach, was a stockbroker who invested his entire fortune in the stock market, only to lose it in the 1929 crash, according to the son.
» Completed undergraduate and law school at the University of Pittsburgh, finishing second in his class in the latter. Landed his first job with prestigious Pittsburgh firm, Reed Smith Shaw & McClay.
» Made partner in Reed Smith in record time, but left in 1976, saying he thought he was on the wrong side in the courtroom. Said of the plaintiff in his last case there: “This guy’s case was so good, and he was so right, and we just chopped him up into little pieces. We just blew him away. And I thought, if that guy had had more money and a better lawyer, he would have won.’ ”
» Accepted a position at Milberg Weiss, a New York firm that was pioneering aggressive class-action securities litigation. His first assignment was to open a one-lawyer branch office in San Diego.
» Filed first of hundreds of class-action securities suits against Silicon Valley firms in 1984 and won $5 million settlement from Seagate Technology. Lerach made approximately $1.5 million in fees, while the 17,000 Seagate shareholders each got about $294.
» Told the opposing counsel in 1988 Nucorp litigation that the verdict would be “an ignominious end to your mediocre career.” But Lerach lost the case in front of colleagues and friendly journalists he had invited to hear the verdict.
» Wrote in a 1989 memo on jury selection that “60-year-old Republicans” were to be avoided at all costs because such individuals were biased against victims of securities fraud.
» Became one of the country’s most generous Democratic contributors, securing a night in the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House in 1994 and a seat of honor next to President Clinton at a Dec. 15, 1995, White House dinner. Clinton vetoed the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act (PSRA) of 1995 a few days later.
» The Republican-led Congress passed PSRA over Clinton’s veto and specifically cited Lerach in the official congressional report on the measure.
» Other notable Lerach victories include a $250 million settlement from Charles Keating of the savings and loan scandal, and wresting $1.5 billion from Michael Milken and the Drexel Burham Lambert brokerage firm.
» Owns a mansion in an exclusive San Diego suburb that is part of the nation’s third richest ZIP code. His massive office looks out over the San Diego harbor. Brags about his $1.5 million art collection.
» Left Milberg Weiss in 2004 and formed Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP.
» Media reports in 2005 that the U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Milberg Weiss for several years concerning allegations the firm had paid bribes to lead plaintiffs in order to gain the coveted lead plaintiffs counsel designation that usually meant more fees for the firm.
» In 2006, Milberg Weiss becomes the first law firm ever indicted under federal racketeering statutes. Four partners, including two named and two unnamed are also indicted, as well as half a dozen alleged recipients and facilitators of bribes.
» Lerach and Melvin Weiss, the man who hired him in 1976, are revealed in 2007 as the Partner A and Partner B in the government’s indictment. Both deny all charges.
» Lerach becomes in February 2008 the third of the four indicted Milberg Weiss partners to plead guilty. Prosecutors say the bribery scheme began as early as 1981 and generated at least $250 million in tainted fees from an estimated 150 class-action securities cases.
» Lerach begins writing opinion pieces for various publications and claims that he is going to jail for doing things that were “industry practice.”
