Form Over Substance
A former name partner of Milberg Weiss was disbarred yesterday by order of the New York Appellate Division for the First Judicial Department. The attorney had been convicted of a federal felony. His contention that the felony had no parallel in New York state law was rejected as “form over substance.” The court found:
“According to the Second Superceding Information, Milberg Weissconstituted an enterprise specializing in representing plaintiffs inclass actions and shareholder derivative actions. Respondent admittedin his plea allocution and plea agreement, read in conjunction with theInformation, that from approximately 2003 through at least 2005, whilerespondent was a partner at Milberg Weiss, there was an agreement amongtwo or more other Milberg Weiss attorneys to conduct Milberg Weiss’saffairs through a ‘pattern of racketeering activity.’ This involvedgiving secret, illegal kickbacks to individual class action plaintiffswho were essentially on call to act as lead plaintiffs. Thisarrangement allowed Milberg Weiss to file lawsuits faster and to gainthe position as lead counsel to receive higher fees.
Specifically, respondent admitted that he participated innegotiating with Howard J. Vogel (Vogel) the amounts Milberg Weiss paidto Vogel pursuant to this secret payment arrangement. Respondent alsoadmitted working with Vogel to prepare and file numerous class actionsin which Vogel, his relatives and entities Vogel controlled served asnamed plaintiffs for Milberg Weiss. Respondent also caused MilbergWeiss to issue checks to others, (generally law firms), serving asintermediaries for Vogel with the understanding and intent that theseintermediaries would distribute these funds to Vogel. Respondent alsoknew that transmittal letters falsely described these checks as the ‘share’ of attorneys’ fees Milberg Weiss owed for the intermediaries’work on the class actions.”
Where a federal felony conviction equates to a New York state felony, disbarment is automatic and the convicted attorney is struck from the rolls. (Mike Frisch)