June 22, 2006

Peter Lattman is asking why two plaintiffs' law firms suddenly withdrew a motion asking a federal court to consider whether the Milberg indictment has any impact on choosing a Milberg spin-off, Lerach Coughlin, as lead counsel in a securities class action.

One wonders what antitrust violations an aggressive plaintiffs' law firm would infer from the information that two corporations withdrew from a bidding war within hours of being publicly criticized by a third competitor.

Perhaps even bigger news comes from the Chicago Tribune, which reports that pension fund legal advisor William Cavanagh received $750,000 in legal fees from Milberg Weiss that wasn't disclosed to the courts handling class actions. The Tribune quotes two judges who say that information would have been material to their lead counsel decisions. (via Lattman)