Nation Briefs

Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press, Oct 15, 2007

Milberg co-founder Weiss pleads not guilty to paying kickbacks

Milberg Weiss co-founder Mel Weiss pleaded not guilty to charges he secretly paid clients to file shareholder lawsuits that brought in more than $251 million in attorney fees.

Weiss, 72, entered the same plea to four felony charges, including obstruction of justice, at a hearing Monday in Los Angeles federal court. He faces as much as 40 years in prison if convicted.

Weiss last month became the final remaining name partner in New York-based Milberg Weiss to be charged in the eight-year investigation. He's accused of participating in a scheme, dating back as far as 1979, to pay secret kickbacks to plaintiffs in more than 225 class-action and shareholders lawsuits. Former senior partners David Bershad and Steven Schulman were indicted last year and pleaded guilty.

William Taylor, a lawyer representing Milberg Weiss, entered a not-guilty to plea on behalf of the firm at Monday's hearing.

Lerach last month agreed to plead guilty in the investigation after retiring from his firm. Lerach, who helped recover $7.2 billion for Enron Corp. investors, faces as long as two years in prison under the terms of his agreement. The San Diego firm, now named Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, hasn't been charged.

Nixon Peabody hires Karen Greenbaum from Mercer Group

Nixon Peabody, the Rochester, New York-based firm of 700 attorneys, hired Karen Greenbaum from Mercer Consulting Group, a division of New York-based Marsh & McLennan Cos Inc., the world's largest insurance broker.

Greenbaum joined Nixon Peabody as chief operating officer and managing director, the firm said in a statement today. In 25 years at Mercer, she gained expertise in finance, human resources, marketing and sales, information technology, and knowledge management, according to the statement. She serves on Chicago's Climate Change Task Force, the statement said.

"We spent almost a year searching for my successor when I announced my plans to retire after 25 years at the firm," John Gerhard, Nixon Peabody's current managing director, said in the statement. "We're excited that we've chosen the right person for the job."

In fiscal 2006, Nixon Peabody was the 65th-largest grossing U.S. law firm, with revenue of $392.5 million, according to the American Lawyer, a trade publication.

Kozlowski's insurer asks judge to confirm award

Corporate Officers & Directors Assurance Ltd. sought confirmation of a $1.97 million arbitration award against L. Dennis Kozlowski, the former Tyco International Ltd. chief executive officer convicted of looting his company.

The Bermuda insurer asked a New York state judge in Manhattan to direct the ex-CEO to pay the sum, which includes legal fees and costs associated with Kozlowski's failed effort to force the company to pay for his legal defense.

"At no time since the issuance of either award has Kozlowski asserted any objection," wrote Paul Koepff, a lawyer for Assurance, in court papers. "Kozlowski has no basis to challenge either award."

Kozlowski, 60, was sentenced in 2005 to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison. Last year, he filed papers demanding the insurer pay legal bills incurred at his two criminal trials and in civil lawsuits. An arbitrator found against the imprisoned former executive Sept. 17, according to court papers, which didn't give an explanation. The arbitration award didn't state a dollar amount due to confidentiality rules.

Kozlowski's 2004 trial ended with a mistrial, and he was convicted at a retrial on June 17, 2005. He has paid $97 million in court-ordered restitution to Tyco since his conviction and owes a $70 million fine, most of which has been in escrow pending appeal.