For class-action lawyer William Lerach, battles with adversaries are all in a day’s work. Less common are spats with clients, like the one currently raging in a federal court in Dallas.
In papers filed recently in a securities-fraud lawsuit against Halliburton, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Supporting Fund requested that the judge remove lawyers representing it in the case, lead plaintiffs counsel Lerach and his law firm, Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, and David Scott of Scott + Scott.
The fund in November said its relationship with the lawyers had “deteriorated.” This week, the fund filed papers saying there were “legitimate and serious concerns” about Mr. Lerach’s involvement in the litigation because of the Justice Department’s investigation of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman. It also raised concerns about the media attention surrounding the investigation, citing a Fortune magazine cover story in October about Milberg Weiss, after which the “situation became intolerable.”