Plaintiff for Indicted Law Firm Wants Case Dismissed

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

SAN FRANCISCO — A perennial plaintiff for a prominent law firm facing federal racketeering and fraud charges is asking that the criminal case against him be dismissed because of protracted delays and his failing health.

Seymour Lazar, of Palm Springs, Calif., was charged in May as part of an indictment that also named as defendants the firm Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman and two of its name partners, David Bershad and Steven Schulman. However, Mr. Lazar and his personal attorney were first charged in a June 2005 indictment that referred to Milberg Weiss only as a “New York Law Firm.”

Mr. Lazar is accused of receiving $2.4 million in secret kickback payments in connection with about 70 securities lawsuits Milberg Weiss brought in Mr. Lazar’s name or the names of his family members.

In a motion filed recently in federal court in Los Angeles, lawyers for Mr. Lazar contend that prosecutors slow-walked the case while working on the new indictment naming Milberg Weiss.

“The government’s inexplicable charging of Mr. Lazar over a year before charging the Milberg firm, its heavy-handed treatment of him once charged, and its continuance of the trial over Lazar’s objection to allow it time to indict the Milberg firm demonstrate an improper effort to ignore the speedy trial rights of defendant Lazar as part of the government’s strategy in investigating and charging the firm,” an attorney for Mr. Lazar, Thomas Bienert Jr., wrote.

Mr. Lazar, 79, submitted a written declaration listing numerous ailments, including lymphoma, diabetes, and heart disease. Last summer, an electronic tracking device was removed from Mr. Lazar’s leg before he underwent triple bypass surgery.

“I believe that my deteriorating condition has made it nearly impossible for me to take the stand and testify in my own defense,” the former entertainment lawyer wrote. “My memory has become so faulty that jurors would likely misunderstand my inability to engage in normal discourse or to recall facts as signs of evasion or even dishonesty.”

Mr. Lazar said he recently failed to recall his daughter’s name and cannot stay awake for more than a few hours.

At a hearing in January at which a judge granted Mr. Lazar’s request to be released from house arrest, he sat in a wheelchair and used headphones provided for the hearing impaired. At times, he seemed to have difficulty understanding statements by the judge and the lawyers in the case. At other points, however, he was downright feisty. “Can I point out that I was a lawyer for 30 years or 40 years, a practicing lawyer?” Mr. Lazar told the judge.

Mr. Lazar, who is free on $10 million bail, has pleaded not guilty. However, his lawyers argued in the new motion that the alleged kickback scheme was a victimless crime. “There is not an identifiable victim because no one was harmed,” Mr. Bienert wrote. “The government cannot demonstrate any nexus between the payment of these referral fees and some sort of loss to the shareholders/absent class members. The esoteric nature of this ‘crime’ detracts from its potential seriousness.”

A spokesman for the prosecution, Thomas Mrozek, declined to comment yesterday. In prior statements, prosecutors alleged that Milberg Weiss and the other defendants misled federal judges. Legal analysts said the alleged kickbacks may also have hurt the ability of other class action firms to pursue cases with plaintiffs not receiving under-the-table payments.

At a hearing in July, defense lawyers for Milberg Weiss and its partners said they wanted a year or more to go through hundreds of thousands of pages of documents gathered in the case. Even if Judge John Walter rejects Mr. Lazar’s request to be dismissed from the case, Mr. Lazar’s declining health could step up pressure to bring the case to trial sooner rather than later.


The New York Sun

© 2024 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use