THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ON MILBERG WEISS . . . Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal published another in its series of articles about the investigation of the class-action firm Milberg Weiss: "Prosecutors Step Up Probe of Milberg Weiss Law Firm." It's not available online, but you can read it at the Globe and Mail, where it's headlined "Probe of Milberg Weiss Law Firm Intensifies" (free registration required).

The news in the article is that a former Milberg partner, Alan Schulman, is now cooperating with the government in its investigation of litigator Bill Lerach. According to the article, "Schulman's cooperation is a major development because he worked alongside Mr. Lerach, a former senior partner at Milberg Weiss and one of the nation's most prominent class-action lawyers."

If you're following the story, here's something the Wall Street Journal omitted: for what it's worth, it's well known that there's bad blood between Schulman and Lerach. I'm surprised the Wall Street Journal didn't note it, if only to complete the picture.

One of the best sources for details of the Schulman-Lerach spat is a September 2000 article from Fortune magazine: "The King of Pain is Hurting" (pdf). The Fortune article claims that in the late 90s, Schulman staged what Fortune called a failed "coup" at Milberg Weiss by demanding that the firm's executive committee get rid of Lerach. "Either he goes or I go," Fortune quotes Schulman as saying.

It was Schulman who left, and now he has emerged as one of the government's star witnesses against Lerach and Milberg Weiss. It seems odd that the Wall Street Journal did not address Schulman's background with the firm. The Fortune article is also interesting, by the way, in that it explores many of the old allegations about Milberg's business practices that the Wall Street Journal now says are a "new turn" in the investigation.

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