Introduction

In the late 1990s, the lawyers at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach were the undisputed kings of securities fraud class actions. Melvyn Weiss, the dean of the securities class action bar and a co-founder of the firm, ran its New York office. Bill Lerach, frequently described as the most hated man in Silicon Valley because of his penchant for suing high technology issuers, ruled its west coast operations. To say that the validity of the firm's business was a matter of some contention, vastly understates matters. Although some view securities class actions as a necessary supplement to under-resourced government enforcement authorities, others see them as little more than legalized extortion aimed at wringing settlements out of innocent companies suffering temporary market setbacks.

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