In today's Morning Docket, we wondered about what Milberg Weiss's new name would be, now that Mel Weiss is on his way to becoming a convicted felon. The answer came more quickly than expected. From the WSJ Law Blog:

The firm formerly known as Milberg Weiss Bershad & Shulman LLP, then Milberg Weiss Bershad LLP, then Milberg Weiss LLP, will now be known just as Milberg LLP. According to a Milberg insider, the name change was announced at a staff meeting this morning, at which Mel Weiss gave a speech talking about the accomplishments of the firm. The audience reportedly applauded.....

"Hey everyone, I'm going to prison for 18 to 33 months. Give me a big hand!"

The WSJ reported this morning that Mel Weiss has struck a deal to agree to plead guilty in a case alleging improper kickbacks. Other former name partners David Bershad and Steven Schulman had previously pleaded guilty in the case.

The beauty of naming the firm after Larry Milberg? He dead.

More Milberg Weiss coverage, including a statement from Mel Weiss, at the WSJ Law Blog.

Introducing . . . Milberg LLP [WSJ Law Blog]

* You've got mail! And you better hold on to it. [CNN]

* Both sides shooting to get SCOTUS to hear D.C. gun case. [New York Times]

* Milberg Weiss asking for home court advantage in trial. [WSJ Law Blog]

* Can anybody do anything based on the Mitchell Report? [Sports Illustrated]

* Holy Lawsuit, Batman! Professors sue Ave Maria. [AveWatch.org]

* TMI indeed; spare us talk of that burning sensation. Just say you have a doctor's appointment, and leave it at that. [Nasty, Brutish & Short]

* Just because you're a 46-year-old man who has never been married doesn't mean you're gay. Plamegate prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald -- whom we met earlier this month, btw -- is engaged. Congrats, Pat! [WSJ Law Blog]

* Milberg Weiss and the Democrats: politics makes for not-so-strange bedfellows. [Overlawyered; Overlawyered]

* Some undergraduates earn cash by selling their class notes online. How long before this trend takes hold in law schools? [Conglomerate]

* Who says Yale Law grads can't be funny? [Wonkette]

* O.J. freshly squeezed by a second co-defendant. [AP via Athens Banner-Herald]

* Law professors get appointed to do everything. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

* Nevada holds off on an execution, waiting on SCOTUS. [Reno Gazette-Journal]

* Weiss pleads not guilty. [Jurist]

* iPoison. [PC World]

* Didn't they just execute somebody with an electric chair? And this is what gets them in trouble with the Constitution? [Jurist]

* Mel Weiss to be indicted. [New York Times]

* Oh, Al Sharpton, you're incorrigible. [CNN]

* Judge withdraws jury instruction in Spector case; has he set up an easy appeal if there's a conviction? [CNN]

As you know, we've been doing a series of fall recruiting open threads on the Vault 100 law firms -- which, of course, tend to represent large corporate defendants in litigation matters.

But lately plaintiffs' firms have been on our mind. Like Hewes & Associates, the fictional firm headed by Glenn Close in the new FX show, Damages. Or Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins -- which will drop "Lerach" from its name as of August 31st, after the departure of the colorful and controversial Bill Lerach (whose over-the-top farewell message can be accessed here).

We're not alone in thinking about plaintiffs' lawyers. The crew over at Illegal Briefs sent in this request:

We've been enjoying your recent recruiting posts/threads. We'd be curious to read about folks' take on plaintiff-side recruiting and work experiences.

We're curious too. To kick things off, here are some questions:

1. What are associate salaries (and bonuses) like at the big plaintiffs' firms, like Lerach Coughlin or Milberg Weiss?

2. Law students (a) want to make money, so they can pay off their student loans, and (b) generally have liberal or left-of-center political views. So why do they all go trooping off to firms that defend big corporations? Why not do plaintiffs' work, where they can stand up for "the little guy" -- and make good money, too?

And, from a different reader, an inquiry about another ATL favorite subject:

You should consider including in your updated clerkship bonus coverage the bonuses being paid by a large plaintiff firm such as Lerach. It would be interesting to see if they are matching their corporate adversaries.

So, does anyone have information or opinions to share on plaintiffs' firms? If so, please do so in the comments. Thanks.

Bill Lerach To Resign August 31 [WSJ Law Blog]
Lerach’s Departure Memo [WSJ Law Blog]

In the wake of name partner David Bershad's guilty plea, the schadenfreude over the fall of Milberg Weiss continues.

Even ex-paralegals at Milberg Weiss are getting in on the fun. Check out this excerpt, from a comment posted at Roger Parloff's blog:

[F]or anyone who argues that theirs were essentially victimless crimes, how about the competitive advantage Milberg Weiss has enjoyed over firms who really are ethically defending the little guy? It was this idea of evening the playing field for investors and consumers that made me excited about working for Milberg Weiss in the first place, and I passed up more lucrative offers from Defense firms because of my desire to be able to look myself in the mirror every morning. Too bad my employers did not have the same commitment to honesty.

Oh, and as an additional note on class, [former name partner Steven] Schulman actually had the nerve to e-mail the entire firm to ask if they wanted to support his children's private school by buying gingerbread houses decorated by the kids for $200 a pop. And then, the night of the firm Christmas Party, he sent out a second-chance e-mail offering them discounted at $150!

Rumor also has it that if you bought Girl Scout cookies from Schulman's daughter, he'd reach into this secret safe he had in his office, and kick back half of the cash to you...

Only Mel Weiss can save Milberg Weiss now [Legal Pad / Fortune]

Earlier: Lawyer of the Day: David Bershad

Former Milberg Weiss partner David Bershad has agreed to plead guilty to a conspiracy count, and to cooperate with the feds in their investigation of his former law firm (in which he was once a name partner). The government alleged that Bershad paid kickbacks to clients to serve as plaintiffs in securities class action cases. See here, here, and here.

The best part of the whole story, from the WSJ Law Blog:

* In the earlier years of the alleged conspiracy, Bershad along with Partners A and B and others, “pooled their personal cash into a fund Bershad maintained in his office at Milberg Weiss, which was used by the Conspiring Partners to supply cash for secret payments to paid plaintiffs and others.”

* According to the statement, “the amounts the Conspiring Partners each contributed were supposed to be approximately proportionate to their respective partnership interests in Milberg Weiss. Bershad kept track of the amounts contributed and of the secret cash payments that had been made to paid plaintiffs.”

Now THAT is what we call partnership. Complete trust and cooperation. Working together towards a common goal.

Who says there's no honor among thieves?

Milberg Weiss’s Bershad to Plead Guilty [WSJ Law Blog]
Bershad Agreement: The Personal Cash Fund [WSJ Law Blog]
Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Securities Case [New York Times]

* Cleared Duke lacrosse players given extra year of eligibility. [New York Times]

* ACLU v. Boeing over alleged CIA torture flights. [Jurist]

* Save it for the field, fellas. [Reno Gazette-Journal]

* Milberg partner may plea in class-action kickback case. [WSJ Law Blog]

After we mentioned the departure of indicted partner Steven Schulman from the indicted law firm Milberg Weiss, some of you had funny things to say. See, e.g., this comment.

As it turns out, there were reasons unrelated to federal criminal charges for Steve Schulman to leave Milberg. From Legal Pad:

Schulman’s deal with the firm required that upon his departure, he receive a sum based on Milberg’s income during his last year at the firm. With 2005 a considerably better (as in, indictment-free) year for the firm than 2006, the partner had a real incentive to leave. Indeed, we’re told that by departing before the end of 2006, he’s in line to get about $5 million more than if he had waited.

It's all about the benjamins, baby. You can take the lawyer out of the plaintiffs' firm; but you can't take the plaintiffs' firm out of the lawyer.

And that $5 million could come in handy if Schulman does strike a plea deal — something that, according to lawyers familiar with the case, has not happened yet, but very well could. We hear that Schulman is open to the idea, and his switch of attorneys earlier this year — from the NY brawler Ed Hayes to former federal Judge Herb Stern — would seem to lend itself to negotiations. The hitch is that if he were to flip, Schulman would probably have to offer up a superior or two, namely Melvyn Weiss or William Lerach.

Very interesting. We know many lawyers who have worked with Judge Stern, and some say that at times he can be difficult, controlling, and arrogant (although you'd be too if you were an ex-Article III judge). But it's certainly true that he's not as much of a street-fighter as Ed Hayes, one of the deans of the Mafia defense bar (along with Bruce Cutler and Gerald Shargel).

The prospect of Schulman flipping on Mel Weiss or Bill Lerach is dizzying. The glee among Fortune 500 general counsels and Biglaw securities lawyers -- and the Schadenfreude among less successful plaintiffs' lawyers -- would be boundless. Happy Kwanzaa!

5 Million Reasons to Quit Milberg [Legal Pad / Cal Law]
Partner at Law Firm Resigns to Focus on Criminal Charges Against Him [New York Times]
Steven G. Schulman bio [Milberg Weiss]

Earlier: Musical Chairs: 12.13.06

It has been a while since our last round-up of notable moves within the legal profession. So there's a lot to report today:

Law Firm to... Prison?

* Former Milberg Weiss name partner Steven Schulman resigned from the firm to pursue “new ventures.” The most important of these "ventures" will surely be fighting federal charges of making illegal payments to plaintiffs in past cases.

Law Firms to In-House:

* Securities lawyer Stephen Cutler is leaving his partnership at WilmerHale to become general counsel of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the banking giant. From a tipster who works in securities law: "This is a big deal."

Colleagues of Cutler described the JP Morgan gig to the WSJ Law Blog as a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity. Translation: Who wouldn't want to make mid- instead of low-seven-figures?

* Another WilmerHale departure: J. Kevin McCarthy is taking over as top lawyer of the Cowen Group, an investment bank.

Government to Private Sector:

* Former New Jersey Chief Justice Deborah Poritz joins the Princeton office of Drinker Biddle & Reath, as of counsel. She stepped down from the New Jersey Supreme Court in October, after reaching the mandatory retirement age.

Government Promotion:

* David Nocenti, current counsel to New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, will become counsel to the governor effective January 1.

Academia-Biglaw Alliance:

* Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe, the renowned constitutional scholar and SCOTUS litigator, is entering into a consulting arrangement with Akin Gump.

Akin Gump is developing a Supreme Court practice. Earlier this year, they added young SCOTUS superstar Tom Goldstein to their line-up.

Lateral Moves:

* Securities-enforcement lawyer Chuck Davidow, to Paul Weiss (DC), from WilmerHale.

Another loss for WilmerHale -- on top of the previously reported departure of Paul Eckert for the White House Counsel's Office.

Why are so many partners leaving WilmerHale? A Hillary Clinton administration is still two years away.

* IP lawyer Joseph Gioconda, to DLA Piper (New York), from Kirkland & Ellis.

* Corporate lawyer Eric Lerner, to Kramer Levin, from Katten Muchin Rosenman.

* Tax lawyer Thomas Giegerich, to McDermott Will & Emery (NY), from Dewey Ballantine (about to merge with Orrick to form Dewy Orifice).

New Partners:

* Bryan Cave: Eleven new partners. Names here.

Due to the sheer number of links today, we've placed them after the jump.

* Happy Anniversary, Justice Stevens. [Associated Press via How Appealing]

* Our low low prices on handmade office furniture are cruel and unusual! [MSNBC]

* The Court lights one up for Big Tobacco. [Law.com]

* Milberg Weiss's judgment day: January 2008. [New York Times]

We're vaguely troubled by the title of this WSJ Law Blog post ('cause it makes us think of this). But it does report on a notable move within the legal profession, so we will plow ahead.

From the aforementioned post:

Matthew Gluck is joining Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman as a senior partner, marking a significant hire for the plaintiffs’ law firm. Gluck had been a litigation partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson since 1973....

Milberg Weiss was indicted in May on fraud charges based on allegations that it paid plaintiffs to file cases. It pleaded not guilty and has vowed to fight the charges. Since the indictment, the firm has lost a significant number of partners and associates.

Gluck's move continues the trend of breaking down the barrier between plaintiffs' firms and Biglaw. Sometimes Biglaw associates might, after a few years of practice, move over to the plaintiffs' side; but such moves at the partner level were much less common. Biglaw was Biglaw, plaintiffs' firms were plaintiffs' firms, and never the twain shall meet.

This may be changing. Gluck's move, from Fried Frank to Milberg Weiss, comes not long after former Milberg Weiss name partner Patricia Hynes moved in the opposite direction -- from Milberg Weiss to the New York office of Allen & Overy, the defense-oriented British firm.*

So why did Gluck make the move?

Gluck, 64 years old, is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Cornell University. He told the WSJ’s Nathan Koppel he was soon facing retirement age at Fried Frank and wanted a new challenge.

Attempting to turn around a class-action-complaint mill under federal indictment would indeed qualify as a "challenge." But the undaunted Gluck is surprisingly sanguine about Milberg's future:

“I don’t know why people have left [the firm] except for panic,” he says. “It doesn’t strike me as rational.”

Not "rational"? Clients defecting en masse, partners fleeing in droves, courts taking the firm off cases, or refusing to appoint them in new ones... Call us Debbie Downer, but this doesn't sound too promising.

Even if you question the original decisions of clients, partners, and courts to abandon Milberg in the first instance, here's the problem: the prophecy of doom has turned self-fulfilling. Does the name "Arthur Andersen" ring a bell? Even though the accounting firm was ultimately vindicated in the Supreme Court, that vindication came too late.

But hey, Matt Gluck's arrival is undoubtedly a good thing for Milberg. In addition to being an experienced litigator, Gluck has -- as noted by Milberg Weiss managing partner Sanford Dumain -- "superb credentials in the area of bankruptcy law."

* Yes, Allen & Overy is one of the "Magic Circle" firms. There, we said it. Now wasn't that fun?

Fried Frank Partner Comes In Through Milberg’s Out Door [WSJ Law Blog]
Milberg Gets Fried Frank Veteran [Wall Street Journal]
Against Tide, Lawyer Joins Milberg Weiss [New York Times]
Matthew Gluck bio [Martindale-Hubbell]

Oodles of juicy moves today, especially out of and into the federal government. As the leaves change, so do the lawyers.

Government to Private Sector:

* Federal prosecutor John Hueston, a leader of the team that prosecuted Enron execs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, is heading for the greener pastures of Irell & Manella.

All around the country, AUSAs with white-collar criminal experience are leaving U.S. Attorney's Offices -- including our former workplace -- for the more lucrative precincts of private practice. The trend is especially pronounced in the legendary Southern District of New York, as noted by Anna Schneider-Mayerson.

Private Sector to Government:

* Corporate and securities lawyer Michael Halloran, a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop, has been appointed to serve as deputy chief of staff and counselor to Christopher Cox, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Lateral Moves:

* Broker-dealer compliance specialist Steven Lofchie, to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, from Davis Polk & Wardwell. (In this day and age, compliance is a hot area. We're guessing Lofchie got offered a nice deal.)

* Tax lawyer John Narducci, to Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, from White & Case.

* IP lawyer Robert Wasnofski Jr., to Dorsey & Whitney, from Baker Botts.

* M&A lawyer Sandy Feldman, to Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham, from Torys.

Retirements:

* Plaintiffs' lawyer Alan Schulman, of Bernstein, Litowitz -- and formerly of the indicted Milberg Weiss -- is retiring at the end of the year.

Not Going Anywhere -- Yet:

* Apple CEO Steve Jobs and HP CEO Mark Hurd are sticking around -- despite the problems that their companies face.

NY Practice Leader Leaves One Elite NY Firm for Another [NYLawyer.com]
More NY Partners Switching Firms [NYLawyer.com]
Milberg Weiss: Merger Talks Break Down; An Alum Retires [WSJ Law Blog]
Enron Prosecutor John Hueston to Join Irell & Manella [WSJ Law Blog]
The Gang That Shot Straight Is Disbanding, For a Profit [New York Observer]

* Anna Nicole Smith, the buxom ex-Playmate and victorious Supreme Court litigant, supports a formal inquest into the mysterious death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel Wayne Smith. [Associated Press]

* SCOTUS groupies, rejoice: Same-day transcripts of Supreme Court oral arguments will be made available, for free, on the Court's website. [Washington Post; SCOTUSblog]

* The Pennsylvania Supreme Court strikes down the legislature's attempted repeal of judicial pay raises as unconstitutional. As a result, Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices' salaries will increase to about $171,000, and Common Please judges' salaries will increase to almost $150,000. Not bad for being an icky state court judge. [How Appealing (linkwrap)]

* Boy that was fast: notorious plaintiffs' lawyer William Lerach, a former partner at the indicted law firm Milberg Weiss, has filed a derivative lawsuit against the HP board. [The Recorder via WSJ Law Blog]

* Michael "Under God" Newdow, the Energizer Bunny of questionable litigation, is at it again. [Law.com]

* More wrangling between the White House and Congressional Republicans over military tribunals and permissible interrogation methods for terror suspects. We hope this gets resolved soon, 'cause our attention span just isn't that long. [New York Times]

Since it went and got itself indicted, things have been less than peachy-keen over at Milberg Weiss, everyone's favorite class-action complaint factory. Milberg has lost oodles of prominent partners to other plaintiffs' firms. And now things are turning downright ugly:

Patricia Hynes, a former name partner of Milberg Weiss, is crossing over to the other side. Starting today, she will be a senior counsel in the New York office of Allen & Overy, an elite, London-based firm that defends companies against securities-fraud litigation, according to a release issued by A&O. “We are desperately trying to build the U.S component of a great firm,” says A&O partner Pamela Rogers Chepiga,* who notes that she used to work with Hynes in the U.S Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.

Yes, that's right. Pat Hynes -- who was a name partner at Milberg, back when it was called Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach -- is going to be a defense lawyer in securities class actions.

Congratulations to Hynes for seeing the light -- or, at the very least, the fat paycheck that A&O probably dangled before her.

Milberg Weiss Heavyweight Bolts to the Other Side [WSJ Law Blog]

Earlier: Prior AboveTheLaw coverage of Milberg Weiss

* The legal world is a small one: Pamela Rogers Chepiga is the wife of Simpson Thacher powerhouse partner Michael Chepiga (who also finds time to be a Broadway playwright).

(Disclosure: Back when we were in private practice, Michael Chepiga got mad at us on the telephone -- and was entirely in the right. After changing into dry underwear, we called him and left a voice-mail of one thousand apologies.)

It's been a few weeks since our last report on the much-maligned Milberg Weiss. So here's the latest news about the plaintiff's class-action firm that everyone loves to hate:

The bleeding continues at Milberg Weiss Bershad & Shulman. [Last] week, four partners — Bruce Bernstein, Brian Kerr, Dan Scotti and Lee Weiss — announced they were leaving. The lawyers are heading to New York’s Dreier LLP, which represents defendants and plaintiffs in securities litigation. The news was confirmed by Mark Dreier, the firm’s managing partner, who says the Milberg transplants will create a class-action group for their new firm. “Primarily, they will look for opportunities to do plaintiffs work,” he says. The four attorneys did not return calls for comment.

We're not that familiar with the Dreier firm -- don't they make ice cream or something? But it does strike us as odd that the firm represents plaintiffs and defendants in securities cases. Sounds like a recipe for client conflicts.

Milberg Weiss Watch: The Bleeding Continues [WSJ Law Blog]

One of our favorite legal reporters, Anna Schneider-Mayerson of the New York Observer -- a paper that is, by the way, now under new ownership -- chimes in on the slow death of securities class-action behemoth Milberg Weiss (headed by Melvyn Weiss, pictured).

Most of her piece summarizes recent developments that have been reported previously elsewhere. But the article does contain some nice color, including details about the indicted firm's summer party on board an enormous yacht.

Some of our favorite anecdotes, after the jump.

Sometimes a dying person twitches and convulses violently before finally biting the big one. Such is the case with Milberg Weiss, which is showing a few final signs of life. The New York Law Journal passes along this good news for our favorite class-action complaint assembly line:

A New York judge has given a boost to Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman by appointing the embattled law firm co-lead counsel in a consolidated suit over stock-option backdating....

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Richard Lowe said in a decision dated July 13 that the firm's indictment had no bearing on its ability to handle a batch of derivative suits on behalf of individual investors in voicemail software company Comverse Technology, Inc., whose top executives allegedly enriched themselves by almost $400 million by repricing stock option grants.

In addition, in a catty footnote, the judge took a swipe at Bernstein Litowitz, one of the firms that tried to replace Milberg Weiss as lead counsel:

Justice Lowe also said in his footnote it was "disingenuous" for Bernstein Litowitz to raise the issue of Milberg Weiss' indictment and its impact on the Comverse matter "since the attorney representing LSERS [Bernstein's client] was himself a partner at Milberg Weiss, a member of its Management Committee, and was at Milberg Weiss when this action was commenced."

The judge was referring to Salvatore Graziano, who announced plans to leave Milberg Weiss in March.

There are few things more fun to watch than scrappy plaintiffs' lawyers going at each other's throats. Milberg Weiss and Bernstein Litowitz deserve each other.

NY Judge Backs Indicted Firm for Spot in Backdating Case [New York Law Journal]

Milberg Weiss, the plaintiffs' side class-action factory under federal indictment, continues to fall apart before our very eyes. The former legal powerhouse, which just lost partner Christopher Jones, suffers another defection. CalLaw's Legal Pad reports:

The most recent [departure] is William Fredericks, a New York-based partner who’s joining rival Bernstein, Litowitz, Berger & Grossman.

“We’re thankful to have a partner of Bill’s background and experience on the Bernstein Litowitz team,” Bernstein partner John “Sean” Coffey said Monday.

Plaintiffs' lawyers are so predictable. What's that saying about rats and a sinking ship?

Milberg’s Partner Flight Continues [Legal Pad - CalLaw.com]

Earlier: Milberg Weiss: The Harder They Fall