Circle of Greed: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Lawyer Who Brought Corporate America to it's Knees

by Patrick Dillon, Carl M. Cannon

Circle Of The Spectacular Rise And Fall Of The Lawyer Who Brought Corporate Am, by Dillon, Patrick And Carl M. Cannon

Genres: Law, Business, Nonfiction, Biography, Politics, Economics

544 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Rick Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about the rise and fall of class action lawsuits in America.

What a dumb name though. I thought this book was going to be kind of a shallow salacious tale of lawyers making too much money.

Instead, it was a really compelling portrait of Lerach, a private attorney who sued what appeared to be the vast majority of public companies for about 30 years. He ends up losing his license and going to jail for illegally soliciting clients. Basically paying them a kickback above and beyond what is legally appropriate. It’s quite the racket.

But the core of the story revolves around how law overlaps and intersect with private attorneys. The role of litigators and lawsuits in America. And the changing norms around that. For that I thought the book was phenomenal if long and dragging in parts.

I’m increasingly coming to the opinion that many of the government organizations that we think are supposed to regulate, really fall short when it comes to the actual implementation of their duty. And books like this makes me question if that Duty is even one we should be charging them with. Should we, for example have the SEC be responsible for all enforcement of insider trading. Or is it more efficacious to allow private individuals to attempt to claim harm and seek redress on their own. I don’t have a strong answer. But this book makes me lean towards allowing the market and sort of the red blood cells of private attorneys attempt to navigate in regulate things outside of the heavy-handed clamp of the government. I think you probably pair this book with like “The Chickenshit Club” and see how a combination of forces around government regulation, lack of resources, lack of willpower, conflicting self interest, all lead to sort of a modern situation, where people feel hopeless about the way that corporations treat them. Really interesting for me to hear about how something like a class action lawsuit is actually potentially a way to curtail some of the more pernicious parts of corporate greed. Also, as I was previously unaware of the level of lobbying to change perception around class action lawsuits, we also encounter in this book one of my ‘favorite’ societal ills, campaign finance.

I don’t I have a good answer. I know that businesses, just kind of persistently and constantly advocate to be left alone, and there’s a fairly good track record of that not being the greatest thing. But I do think that there’s a lot of positivity in allowing a natural ecosystem of companies, along with sort of self policing from legal entities. I think it’s I’ve matured. I’ve increasingly step back from sweeping statements about capitalism and realize that unchecked it can be cancerous, but channeled and in balance with personal protections I think it’s a positive. It’s interesting to read how lawsuits are sort of that reasonable check. Lots to think on there.

The fees collected by lawyers are eye watering. And it seems like it’s a very captive system around that where once you have a certain lawyer, you can’t really solicit bids. Which presented in the way that this book presents it, you realize there’s a lot of effort and work that goes into these cases. But also, those fees are taking away from the people ultimately impacted.

I think the last interesting part is that you look at the legislation that was passed to try to curtail class action litigation mostly consolidating the industry around the largest players. Those who are able to weather the ups and downs. Making it so smaller law firms were pushed out of being able to advocate for clients. And I think that trend follows a very similar perception I’ve had of a lot of legal wrangling. Instead of democratizing the industry legislation just makes it so that the larger entities are rewarded for being larger, consolidating their impacted influence. I think generally it’s sort of a lot in effect, but I’m not sure I’ve read enough to really speak to that concept.

In all, this was a surprisingly thought-provoking book, provided a lot of really unique examples for concepts and issues I’ve been wrestling with. Probably a bit of legalistic for the casual reader, but I like that about the book. It explains things fairly simply, without dumbing down the core concepts. Still a stupid title though.

[Phillip Talbot · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times the book feels long. However, it is an easy read. The authors explain lawyer talk very well so the common untrained person doesn’t get lost in the back and forth. It does very well break down the major cases Bill Lerach both won and lost. It covers major legislation and how it impacted the tech industry.

There are a few things I noticed. The book while it shows Bill Lerach’s mistakes and breaking of the laws, it definitely pitches him as the good guy who did bad things to bring about good results. The authors tend to show where they would stand on certain political issues. While it is not heavily pushed one can sense the author’s own political bias.

All in all an interesting read. You will learn a lot of facts conveniently left out of the “news” narratives on both sides of the aisle. I could stand to read more books like this.

[Abdul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and at times long story chronicling the rise and fall of one of America's foremost Tort Lawyers Bill Leerach.

The book does a good job of breaking down some of the cases he was on and the huge verdicts he wrestled from some of the biggest and at times greedy corporations in America and beyond.

Through the book we find out that he was paying plaintiffs in order to bring about these lawsuits. While eventually made illegal by our beloved congress it was not illegal when he started going after the cases.
Here I have mixed feelings. On the one hand he acted unethically on the other one could argue he was serving the general good.

Overall a well written book that I would recommend. If you are into stories of corruption and graft I would highly recommend this book. The story actually reminds me of 'Patton French' one of the characters in John Grisham's 'King of Torts'.

[Nemo · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading "The Nine“, a good book about the Supreme Court, I thought I would take the momentum to read another legal thesis book. So I gave this book a try. I bought a used version quite some years ago in a HK bookstore. And never had the nerve to read it simply because of its thickness.

And this thick book turned out to be not only thick, but very chaotic, and messy, and full of various plots/sub-plots/sub-sub-plots. So I kept feeling lost all the time. Thousands of names come and go in the book, and I bet no one remember much. Actually most of the names are meaningless to the main story line and the main character, but it is weird that the authors had a compulsory habit to write down a kind of resume for every name appeared in the book, such as his/her birthplace, schools, career paths, family things, hair color, eye color, beard color, blah blah.... God, who cares about these guys? And what is the value of bringing so much unnecessary info in a book that is supposed to be simple and fun?

Acutually this is just about how a lawyer find a way to file class action suits against various listcos (from dot.coms to Enron), and not just sue its officers and directors, but also sue its auditors/bankers that are deep pocket and hence easy to settle. This business model 1) help investors cover some loss 2) enrich the lawyer 3) help to curtail the market fraud behavior. However, the lawyer and his firm paid kickbacks to plaintiffs, and this practice is usual in reality but is illegal, so the prosecutors forced the lawyer to plead guilty and his big days ended.

That's a simple story line, but the authros made the book way too long and too trivial and too fragmented.

I would rather read a half-length book, and instead of telling too many cases, just telling one or two, such as Enron, so that readers know more about what the case is about and why this lawyer is so unique.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected to read Circle of Greed with an unseemly amount of schadenfreude. After college, I worked as a paralegal at Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, the pioneering securities class action law firm where Bill Lerach -- the subject of the biographical Circle of Greed was a named partner (albeit in the San Diego office; I worked in the New York office and never met Lerach). I was miserable working at Milberg Weiss, so when I read, a year or so ago, that Bill Lerach and others -- whom I had met and loathed -- had been indicted for crimes of dishonesty to the court like paying plaintiffs, had pled guilty, had been sent to prison, and had been forced to forfeit millions of dollars, I rubbed my hands together with glee. That is not a nice sentiment. So, anyway, as I said, I expected to read this massive tome with schadenfreude. But the authors filled me with a certain amount of grudging respect for Bill Lerach, who by all accounts was a brilliant, intensely hard-working lawyer who did a fair amount of good and a fair amount of harm, even as he was a foul-mouthed, vindictive, dishonest man. I thought the book was fair and seemed well-researched.

[R Fontaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plaintiff, class action super legal predators who are ultimately convicted; the tale of Wm Lerach & Milburg Weiss. Lerach corruption conviction resulted in a felony stint in prison.
For more than two decades, Lerach threatened, shook down and sued top Fortune 500 companies, including Disney, Apple, Time Warner, and—most famously—Enron.
Egregiously overwritten/under edited.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting; unduly long; not that insightful

Reads like a very well researched and detailed chronology of Bill Lerach’s career rather than a compelling business-insider drama. It’s all there, but hard to separate the wheat from chaff; would be a better book 30% shorter. But I enjoyed it and read every word.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone commented that the book started out well, but ended a bit slow. Listening to the book I kept looking for that break point where it would start to slow down, and only realized in the last hour that that point would never come. As someone who IS curious about corporate law, I found it fascinating from one end to the other.

[Marek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

Fascinating story to read. It definitely brings out challenging questions around moral encompass in the face of greed. Highly recommend it for those who are looking for a thriller.

[Patty Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insight into white collar corruption

A detailed biography of the good, the bad and the ugly of corporate corruption. Following the rise and fall of Bill Lerech who successfully sued some of the US’s biggest cooperations.

[Stelladonna Leone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really more like 3.5. Little tedious and tired of reading credentials, but interesting.

[Shaheed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read. Cautionary tale about the danger of becoming the very thing that you fight against.

[Anand · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed and at times overly dense biography of a fascinating plaintiff’s attorney who was both a trailblazer and a criminal.

[Noah · Rating 3 out of 5]

they’ve done it again

[Sue Dounim]

Not for everyone. But if you are a law student studying the history of class action litigation in the late 20th Century this would be 5 stars and probably required reading. As a lay person I still find it vividly written and quite interesting.

[Amy Johanning · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is hard not to review the behaviors and actions that make up the book's plot rather than the book itself. The illegalities of some of America's top class action attorneys are are disturbing, to say the least. The authors do a rather good job of documenting Bill Lerach's crimes over his 30 year practice while simultaneously applauding his efforts on behalf of plaintiff's victimized by corporate greed. The intricacies of civil litigation and class action suits are simplified for the reader - no easy feat considering the complexity of securities law. At times, I wondered if the authors needed to include such lengthy descriptions of Lerach's cases - instead keeping the plot line more focused on just those cases that would lead to his downfall. Overall, however, it was a well written manuscript about complex legalities with numerous moving parts spread out over three decades.

What struck me was not the author's telling of the story, but the story itself - and the irony that it presents. Clearly, history does not proven humanities "goodness," especially on Wall Street. The cycle of fraud, exposure, retribution and recovery, government regulation, government deregulation and then back to fraud is endless. Executives will always look for loop holes and court the next administration to seek redress from overzealous class action lawyers. This story - or a variation of it - should be required reading in high school civics classes - the lesson being: elections matter. The cycle of regulation followed by deregulation (one party challenging the other on whatever the former party implemented) simply leads to more fraud and most importantly more victims. And in a "too big to fail" environment the victim is the global economy.

Overall, a good read.

[Sam Richter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Lerach pronounces his name like "Lee-rack" as opposed to how his father had pronounced it as "Lyric." He was from a working class family in Pittsburgh and rose to the top of the legal profession. He won over 45 billion in class actions for defrauded investors. He put fear into corporate boardrooms and executive suites. Some of his prey included RJ Reynolds, Apple, Enron, Circle K, and many more. His fall, which ultimately lead from his paying kickbacks to a stable of professional plaintiffs, resulted in him not finalizing his pursuit of Haliburton and its former CEO Dick Cheney. Bill Lerach's targets were typically corporate executives, board members, and their consulting, financial and accounting enablers who often pumped their stock with favorable press releases and guidance, dumped their stock, and then the firm suffered a financial fall. This is critical work in our society, and I do feel conflicted about Bill Lerach. Regardless of the man, what is more important is that our laws have been de-fanged, mostly by the right, to make it harder for defrauded investors to be made whole and easier for company insiders and firms they hire to get away without consequences. At his height, Bill Lerach considered himself a pillar protecting investors, perhaps greater than the SEC itself. He's an imperfect messenger, but hopefully our lawmakers will realize many of the problems he diagnosed were true. We need to empower plaintiffs and disincentivize corporate rulebreakers more than ever, the book is still timely 20 years later.

[Fred Moramarco · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a compelling read--I couldn't put it down--and tells the remarkable story of Bill Lerach, the major fraud litigator in America for the 30 years between 1975 and 2005. It is dense with details, but it is surprisingly fair, both to Lerach and to the forces which brought him down. From a breakthrough case against the Methodist Church in the 1970s, through the Savings and Loan debacle of the 80s, the dot.com manipulations of the 90s and the colossal Enron and Worldcom collapses of the 00's, Lerach developed a reputation as a no-holds-barred fraud detector. Of course the corporate world thought of him as a despicable bloodsucker and archenemy. And his over-reaching led to his conviction and two years in prison as well as to the end of his legal career. He remains a hero to many, however, who got back some of the money they were robbed of by corporate malfeasance. This book tells the whole story--both sides of it--and tells it well. Highly recommended.
Comment

[Tim Work · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is probably of far more interest to someone with a legal background, and specifically someone with an interest in securities law and litigation. That isn't to say it's not entertaining, but the authors have more or less written a history of how the securities laws have evolved since the 1970s through the lens of the most infamous securities class action lawyer from that period. Unless you're taken by the discussions of politics and policy that pervade the narrative, it will generally read like a run-of-the-mill "spectacular rise and fall of X personality" story.

[Matt Skains · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of Bill Lerach - The guy basically responsible for the rise of "scheme liability" lawsuits and went after Enron. Eventually got busted for giving kickbacks to lead plaintiffs (illegal). Only 3 stars because it seems to drag a bit and the text can be a bit dry at times (go figure). Not a bad read though.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terribly interesting. Loved reading about Bill, specially since it all took place in my backyard. Too bad such good intentions went south. Well written, full of details and a must read for the legal community.

[Nathaniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book for an ethics CLE. The story itself is interesting and the cast of characters is fascinating, but I give this book a thumbs down from a writing standpoint. I expected more from two Pulitzer Prize winning authors.

[Chris O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great look inside the man who used "fraud to fight fraud." Gets a bit dense at times with the overlapping legal cases. But overall, a compelling narrative about the rise and fall of Lerach.

[Johnbakerlaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read. Lerach became what he crusaded against.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave up about 44% of the way into the book. It was fascinating and told really well but the cast of characters kept expanding and I found it difficult to really maintain an interest in the topic.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sooooooooo long. That said, it's a fun read for securities practitioners in California. Lots of guest appearances by current and former Bingham-ites!

[Chelsae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting read!!

[John Gillespie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked it a lot. Very good book for a trial lawyer.

[Erich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little long winded, but otherwise good.