Superstar plaintiffs lawyer William Lerach has remained outside the reach of investigators looking at a kickback scheme at his former firm, Milberg Weiss, but a guilty plea in the case on Wednesday might change that.
Steven Cooperman, a former ophthalmologist previously convicted of insurance fraud, admitted to taking payments for serving as lead plaintiff in class actions filed by Milberg Weiss over 12 years.
Court documents filed Wednesday detail Cooperman's role and also appear to put "Partner B," long believed to be Lerach, at the heart of the lucrative kickback scheme.
Though the charging documents don't identify Lerach by name, one source close to the investigation said Wednesday, "If you look at it, there's an awful lot of facts in there about Bill Lerach."