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The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!)
book

The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!)

by Ken Fisher, Lara W. Hoffmans
November 2009
Beginner to intermediate content levelBeginner to intermediate
256 pages
10h 55m
English
Wiley
Content preview from The Ten Roads to Riches: The Ways the Wealthy Got There (And How You Can Too!)
Steal It
-Like
a Pirate, but Legally
III
WHEN
A
PIRATE
BECOMES
A
VILLAIN
So when does legal piracy become illegal?
When
you break the law.
Ask
Melvyn
Weiss and Bill
Lerach
(of the well-toned scotch arm).
For
decades, no two words struck more
terror
in
CEO
hearts than
"Milberg Weiss." (Well, maybe the word "Lerach" did.) Founded
in 1965 by Melvyn Weiss, Milberg Weiss claimed to fight for blue-
collar workers duped by evil corporations into losing life savings
on crummy stocks.
As the workers' savior, Milberg Weiss collected
over $45 billion from firms for "cheated investors."$45
billion!
In
1976, Bill Lerach joined in the fun, opening Milberg West in San
Diego, and was as feared as Weiss (if
not
more so).
They
eventually had over 200 lawyers
nationally-bigger
than
any
rival-a
machine, bringing in a case a week at their peak. Lead
partners made hundreds of millions .
They
took on everyone! Some
firms multiple times.
Ninety
percent of cases
settled-they
weren't
interested in trying
cases." Lerach was famous for personally
threatening
CEOs
with poverty and worse.i" Pirate talk. Arg!
To get these cases, you must file in court before another
PL
does.
This
is called the race to the courthouse steps.
He
who files
first gets the case.
How
can you make sure you're first? Weiss and
Lerach knew. Every class action needs a lead
plaintiff-a
normal
person who represents typical damages. Finding one takes
time-
slowing you in the courthouse race. So Weiss and
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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780470481554Purchase book