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Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
surfpuppy...you have a different view of fraud. providing incentive fees for plaintiffs goes on all over the legal field, and probably moreso, in class action suits. if a case was bogus on the merits, it would be thrown out of court. I don't think any cases were brought frivolously. Lerach and others in his field held Wall St to account. are we in a better place now that all the criminal and civil sanctions have pretty much been gutted per the aforementioned bill? I think not. Mr. Lerach had a Bush-appointed judge and did the smart thing. Mr. Lerach was a long-termed Democratic donor and if you don't think politics had a lot to do with his prosecution, then look at all the Wall St felons worth several hundred million who have gone scot-free and driving the economy over the cliff with fraud on a cosmic level. but not to worry...the big money got what they wanted...to get Lerach out of business and killed off securities class actions suits ... and now we will watch Charles Ferguson's "Inside Job" and listen to his Oscar acceptance speech ... and reflect on the big picture ...— March 1, 2011 2:40 p.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
don ... thanks for not taking the "attack Lerach" bait and staying on the merits of his analysis...you both are right on the money. let's hope more detail emerges as to how these state (and other) pension funds were penetrated by the Wall St sharks ... a good case in point is John Kasich, Gov of Ohio... did u see this in his wikipedia entry? In 2001, Kasich took a job as managing director of the Columbus investment banking division of Lehman Brothers.[47] He remained at the company until its collapse in September 2008. During 2008, Lehman Brothers paid Kasich $587,175 in salary, bonuses, and other benefits.[48] Over $400,000 of that bonus is credited to Kasich using his political connections to facilitate investment of $480 million from the state pension fund with Lehman Brothers. That money was lost to the state. Kasich has said that he was not a high-level decision maker at the now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers: "Blaming me for Lehman Brothers is like blaming a car dealer in Zanesville for the collapse of General Motors."[49]— March 1, 2011 9:42 a.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
surfpuppy...i can also see u don't know about the merits of class action securities suits. None of Lerach's cases were ever thrown out of court for lack of merit. If you invest in a company based on their fraudulent news releases or fraudulent financial reporting, and your investment goes south... you have a right to recover your losses. With Lerach gone and the laws and regulations now favoring Wall St...good luck. and yes, INSIDE JOB is required viewing for every American with 2 or more brain cells...it will be out on DVD on March 08 and I predict it will do very well in the rental market... As to Mr. Lerach's Huffington Post piece ... it can be read in full at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-s-lerach/wa…— March 1, 2011 9:35 a.m.
Lerach: Don't Blame Public Union Members. Blame Wall Street
surfpuppy....don't shoot the messenger. Lerach is right. As he was in 1995 when he addressed the Gingrich-led Congress and warned that if they passed the Pvt Securities Litigation Reform Act "that we would have a debacle in the securities market in 10 to 15 years that would make us look back on the S&L junk bonds with fondness." He was, and is, right.— March 1, 2011 9:23 a.m.
Partnoy Quoted in Great Movie "Inside Job"
INSIDE JOB is at 2 theaters in San Diego... Landmark in Hillcrest and the UltraStar at the Flower Hill mall in Del Mar. Mr B, I agree. This documentary is of critical importance providing an excellent overview of the whole Wall St mess and its influence over politics. The tragedy is that the collapse of the banks etc could have been avoided. And the sadder fact is that, although they received their billions in bailout money and used a good deal for bonuses, not much has been done to rein them in. Paulson, Bernanke, Greenspan, and the entire lot of them run govt for the benefit of their industry. Mr and Mrs Joe Citizen can go to hell. (and I think this is what has most Americans angry.)— November 23, 2010 7:33 a.m.
Irate Judge Now Feels Lerach's Sentence Was Too Lenient
Just a few more questions...db, how do u know Lerach is cocky? have you ever spoken with or met the man? (either then--while he was practicing--or now?) i'm sure some of his behavior had something to do with posturing and negotiating techniques. i can tell u some stories that some sports agents have pulled off that would curl your hair. it's all part of the negotiating game. when there is sparring over billions of dollars, i'm sure there will be outrageous statements made by all parties to a lawsuit. defense firms snow over plaintiffs attys with tons of documents. i learned recently that the Enron case documents could have filled the Astrodome plus two railroad cars. does anyone think that these defendants part with billions easily or readily? also, Lerach has stated that about 75% of his class action suits involved insider trading...ala what the Enron officer were doing...call it a shakedown or whatever you like. These corporations were acting like criminal enterprises. And the really big ones now operate in unbridled mode with Lerach and class action suits out of the way. If the de-regs of the 90s had not happened, would we have would up with the massive and global fraud perpetrated by AIG and Wall Street and its related entities? I think not.— August 27, 2010 2:39 p.m.
Irate Judge Now Feels Lerach's Sentence Was Too Lenient
Another point...if the Lerach case went to trial, Walter would have been the presiding judge. Knowing that he was appointed by Bush and represented business interests in his career, Lerach would have been foolish to risk a trial and getting 9 years. Walter would have given him 99 years, if he could. So the judge popping his cork recently is no surprise. btw, Lerach and Patrick Dillon appeared at a book signing at Warwick's in June. It is on City TV 24 this weekend 4 times. San Diegans can see or record it tonite at 5pm. It is also schedule to be on next Fri, Sat and Sun at 5pm for 60 minutes. http://www.sandiego.gov/citytv/pdf/programschedul…— August 22, 2010 12:38 p.m.
Irate Judge Now Feels Lerach's Sentence Was Too Lenient
Let's look at the big picture. This judge was appointed by Geo W Bush. Judge Walter respresented nothing but corporate interests throughout his career as a defense attorney. The judge has a strong dislike for Lerach...as does much of Wall Street. Do you think there are any politics involved in getting Lerach out of the way? If you want to look at things objectively and fairly...and want to compare relative wrongdoing in terms of dollars, I am sure that Lerach's infraction pales in comparison to the scams perpetrated by Wall St...now to the tune of trillions. Lerach has admitted he broke the law and he paid his debt to society. He also said he is proud of his work and his recoveries on behalf of defrauded shareholders. And I would venture to say that shareholders who shared in those recoveries are grateful. How many Wall St bankers have gone to jail for their crimes in these two recent economic fiascos? 75% of the cases filed by Lerach involved insider trading, stock fraud and stock price manipulation. Let's look at that side of the criminal ledger, eh? Trillions of worthless securities out there, wouldn't you say?— August 22, 2010 11:16 a.m.
We Live in Fear
My god...this already passed the City Council a couple of years ago..over the Mayor's veto ... My understanding is that the project went back to the Mayor for implementation of the pilot project and it got filed away with cost as a concern. We should have been doing this a long time ago...like they do in Orange County.— July 28, 2010 11:03 a.m.
How San Diego hospitals bend will reduce charges on your bill
What an eyeful!! Great article with excellent and nightmarish data about the hospitals and healthcare system. I wish your cover would have had an eye-catching subtitle to draw more attention. The invoice cited where the article started would have been good to put on the cover...along with the actual bill for $250,000. or a simple "get well card from a hospital: "Your cost to stay 30 days in the hospital is $60,000 ... we're billing you for $250,000. Get well soon." And people don't think something has to be done about health care? This is abominable. The least protected get screwed the most. Welcome to America.— July 22, 2010 12:15 p.m.