Look at this regarding Cypress
Class-action lawyer to fight federal charges
Six people, including Melvyn Weiss' protege, attorney William Lerach, have made plea deals in the case.
By Ronald D. White, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 13, 2007
latimes.com
...Weiss is charged with conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and making false statements. If convicted of all four counts, the 72-year-old could be sentenced to 40 years in prison....
...Federal prosecutors claim that Weiss' law firm, Milberg Weiss, paid illegal kickbacks to people who agreed to act as plaintiffs in 225 shareholder cases in order to be the first to file lawsuits against corporations that allegedly defrauded investors....
Issue 4.11 - Nov 1996
Bloodsucking Scumbag
Attorney Bill Lerach makes his living filing class-action lawsuits against high tech companies. His latest initiative - Proposition 211 - has finally inspired Silicon Valley to fight back.
By Karen Donovan
Speaking with forked tongue
wired.com
...Most companies would rather cut Lerach a hefty check than go through the hassle of a protracted courtroom fight. But T. J. Rodgers, president and CEO of Cypress Semiconductor Corp., would rather die than settle. Rodgers savors the moment when lawyers from LA's Weiss & Yourman - a "Lerach clone," he says - sued Cypress for fraud then immediately brought up the topic of settlement. "My exact quote was, 'You will get the first nickel out of me when you pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.'" When the suit was dismissed, Rodgers framed the decision and hung it on his wall. But his defense cost him $1 million in legal fees....
...In 1995, Adler and Doerr were among the Silicon Valley execs who took their gripes to Washington. Last December, the Republican Congress took heed, overriding a presidential veto to pass the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, designed to curb some of the wilder antics of Lerach & Co. For instance, the law now limits investors from filing more than five securities class actions in a three-year period. In the past, "professional plaintiffs" like the late William Weinberger turned up repeatedly in suits filed by Lerach's firm. When he was deposed in a 1986 case, Weinberger had racked up 33 suits alleging securities fraud. Another 45 were pending. Weinberger died in 1993 at age 95. (He may have been old, but at least Weinberger was breathing. When Lerach sued Digital Microwave Corp., his firm neglected for more than a year to inform the San Jose federal court that the investor named in the original complaint had died.)...
...Lerach's firm bankrolled Proposition 211 with a hefty $3.6 million contribution. The Weiss & Yourman firm contributed another $600,000.... |
