These days Bill Lerach is either at the top of his profession -- or on his way to jail.
A decade after Congress passed tort-reform legislation written partly to curb Lerach's growing clout against corporations, the class-action shareholder lawsuits he helped pioneer are booming and Lerach has roared back as one of the field's most successful practitioners.
He won final approval in May for a $6.6-billion settlement for Enron Corp. shareholders, bringing his total recoveries for those investors to $7.3 billion -- with more money likely to be flowing his way. That came after a string of recent class-action wins.
Federal judges continue to name Lerach's San Diego-based law firm as lead plaintiffs' counsel in new class-action suits, a nod to his negotiating muscle that will entitle him to a larger helping of the legal fees.
Lerach's bulging case files underscore his firm's top ranking last year from Institutional Shareholder Services, which annually lists the top 50 law firms in securities class actions.
But if these are the best of times for the 60-year-old king of class actions, they could also be among the most unsettling months of his career.
Days before the Enron civil settlements, federal prosecutors indicted the New York law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman and two former partners for fraud and conspiracy.
Lerach was one of the most prominent partners at Milberg Weiss until he left in 2004 after what friends have characterized as a titanic clash of egos with senior partner Melvyn Weiss. Many experts believe that Lerach is "Partner B" mentioned throughout the 102-page indictment, generating speculation that prosecutors may yet bring charges against him.
During a pretrial conference last week, government attorneys said there was "a significant possibility" of additional indictments in the seven-year-long probe.
Stephen Gillers, who teaches legal ethics at New York University Law School, said Lerach "has to be concerned. His name is still in play."
Meanwhile, Lerach continues to be criticized by business advocates, who say his tactics usually are nothing more than corporate shakedowns designed primarily to enrich lawyers. Should he be indicted, they say, it will be well deserved.
Lerach declined to be interviewed for this story. But one of his law firm partners, Patrick Coughlin, said, "Bill has always acted in an appropriate way in fighting on behalf of victims and consumers to hold companies accountable for their wrongdoing."
