Score another one for Rep. Chris Cox in his long-running battle against the king of trial lawyers’ strike suits, William Lerach.
After receiving a complaint from the Republican congressman, the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to remove from its Web site a link to Lerach’s firm, San Diego-based Milberg, Weiss Bershad, Hynes & Lerach LLP.
SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt personally called Cox, the fourth-ranking House Republican . “He was completely unaware of this and said he would take it down,” Cox said.
Lerach has become infamous as the king of the “strike suits”,shareholder lawsuits against a company’s executives after a sharp share-price drop or a buyout. Executives consider the suits a form of legal extortion.
The SEC’s Web page includes a series of links to related government entities and professional organizations. But the only link to a law firm was to Lerach’s. The SEC said it was providing this link because the law firm’s site was “designated an Internet site” by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Levitt told Cox that the court had suggested that claimants be notified of court actions via the Internet and this is how it came to be on the court’s and then the SEC’s Web pages.
The law firm’s Web site promotes the company’s cases and has a simple form for joining a class-action lawsuit. The site lists 62 including companies that the firm is suing, including Xerox Corp.
Many Orange County firms know the sting of Lerach, who has sued Fluor Corp., Western Digital Corp., and others.
Cox became aware of the link because his staff uses the SEC Web page. In his letter to Levitt, Cox said the link made it look like the SEC endorsed Lerach’s law firm, and that the link was “a source of serious embarrassment” for the SEC.
“I am quite certain you are aware of the checkered reputation of this firm,” wrote Cox.
Two messages left for Lerach at his San Diego office were not returned. n
