In Novel-Like Scene, Two Milberg Partners Plead Not Guilty

By Josh Gerstein
Sew York Sun
July 18, 2006

One of the nation's leading class action law firms, Milberg Weiss, and two of its name partners, David Bershad and Steven Schulman, pleaded not guilty here yesterday to a federal indictment charging the firm and the two attorneys with conspiring to make secret and illegal payments to plaintiffs.

Messrs. Bershad and Schulman each said, "Not guilty," when asked for their responses to the charges during a morning appearance before a federal magistrate, Carolyn Turchin. The plea for the firm, Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP, was entered by a Los Angeles defense attorney, Bryan Daly.

In a scene torn from a Scott Turow novel, the Milberg Weiss attorneys shared the busy Monday arraignment courtroom with defendants known by aliases such as Destructo and Mainline.

Messrs. Bershad and Schulman have been free since their indictment, but most of the 20 or so defendants in other cases were clad in orange or turquoise jail smocks and looked on anxiously from behind a glass partition. The clanging of shackles as the men shuffled in and out added an air of gravity to the proceedings.

If convicted on all charges, Messrs. Bershad and Schulman face possible sentences of up to 60 years in prison, though under federal guidelines any sentences are likely to be substantially shorter. Milberg Weiss faces possible seizure of up to $216.1 million, the amount of legal fees the firm was awarded in cases in which the government contends the lawyers committed fraud.

During the 15-minute session before Magistrate Turchin, Messrs. Bershad and Schulman said little, giving one-word answers to questions about whether they understood their rights and had received copies of the indictment...

Labels: Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss