NY Firm Battting .200 in Kickback Case (MORE, CLICK HERE)

NY Firm Bats .200 in Keeping Itself Out of Court on Kickback Charges
The National Law Journal by Amanda Bronstad - February 28, 2008

LOS ANGELES —­ A federal judge in Los Angeles has refused to grant four out of the five dismissal motions filed by Milberg Weiss in the federal government's kickback case.

Prosecutors allege that Milberg Weiss and seven of its partners, including its founding partner, Melvyn Weiss, generated $250 million in attorney fees by paying illegal kickbacks to name plaintiffs.

In January, Milberg Weiss filed motions to dismiss several of those claims, refuting charges that the firm committed mail fraud in failing to provide "honest services," obstructed justice by not turning over documents during a grand jury subpoena or violated New York's commercial bribery statutes. The firm also filed a motion challenging the government's depiction of a vast conspiracy, arguing that the indictment details separate schemes involving different plaintiffs. Weiss joined in those motions.

U.S. District Judge John Walter for the Central District of California refused to grant the four motions earlier this week, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Robinson, a prosecutor in the case. Robinson declined to comment on the judge's decision.

Walter did not rule on a fifth motion to dismiss a money laundering count, which he set for a hearing on March 31. Marina Ein, a spokeswoman for Milberg Weiss, declined to comment. Benjamin Brafman of Brafman & Associates in New York, who represents Weiss, did not return a call for comment.