The news that one of the titans of the tort bar, David Bershad, has turned state’s evidence and is expected to testify against two other titans, his former partners Melvyn Weiss and William Lerach, is cause for reflection. There was a time when Messrs. Weiss and Lerach and Bershad were kings of the hill in a war that raged through the courts and involved the idea that companies and their managements could be liable if share prices fell. According to the Web site of their firm, Milberg Weiss represents that it “has been responsible for more than $45 billion in recoveries,” and one can guess that the lawyers’ own share of such winnings itself runs into the billions.

Now, however, one of the name partners in the firm, Bershad, turns out to be an admitted felon, and in pleading to a single count he has, as our Josh Gerstein characterized it on page one of yesterday’s Sun, told the court that prosecutors were correct when they charged that the firm of Milberg Weiss & Lerach had paid investors to serve as named plaintiffs in the cases it was bringing. One of the prosecutors, according to Mr. Gerstein’s report, said that Bershad kept in his office a slushfund of cash contributed by Milberg Weiss partners that, the prosecutor added, was used to make off the books distributions to plaintiffs so the lawyers would get more of any winnings.

This does not mean that either Mr. Weiss or Mr. Lerach are guilty of a crime; they haven’t even been charged with a crime — yet. They have, however, been in plea discussions with federal prosecutors, according to a lawyer in the case who was quoted by our Mr. Gerstein. The Milberg Weiss firm itself was indicted in May 2006, along with Bershad and another senior partner, Steven Schulman. Lawyers for other defendants in the case, Mr. Gerstein reported yesterday, have complained that the alleged payments might not have been illegal and, aside from Bershad, all of the defendants so far have pleaded not guilty. It is too soon to say how it will all be resolved.

It is not too soon to say, however, that the picture of the tort bar visible through the prism of this case is appalling. It’s not just Milberg Weiss, though Mr. Weiss himself has been a significant figure in New York. Milberg Weiss was a contributor to the campaign of Alan Hevesi, who eventually pleaded guilty to an unrelated felony, as well as to the campaign of Governor Spitzer. The case raises fundamental questions about the logic of the tort bar, and the proceedings in California, where the case against Milberg Weiss is being heard, bear watching across the land.