[Sacramento] – This week is one of celebration in the legal community. The King of Torts has been dethroned.

William Lerach, who paved the way for the troubled class action system that exists today, has agreed to a plea deal that is expected to involve prison time. While painting himself as a crusader for the consumer, he has been exposed as anything but, charged with engaging in a kick-back scheme whereby he and other lawyers at his firm paid plaintiffs to initiate class action claims against businesses, earning themselves millions of dollars in legal fees in the process.

“When the poster child of class action lawyers is found to be corrupt, it’s time to start asking if maybe that trickles down through the entire system,” said Diann Rogers, President – Central California Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse. “Lerach and his former, now discredited firm, Milberg Weiss, attained unprecedented success in class action law, and now we know how that came to be.

“Lerach bilked companies and their stockholders for hundreds of millions of dollars, acts he called ‘mistakes.’ Enron and other executives convicted of similar crimes are serving prison terms decades long. We encourage the judge to take this into consideration when determining his sentencing.”

Lerach becomes the second Milberg Weiss partner to plead guilty, with more pleas and additional indictments expected soon.

“In California’s legal climate, we rarely have cause to celebrate. For years, Lerach pitted businesses against consumers and walked away as the only winner,” said Rogers, “Finally, justice is served.”

Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse is a nonprofit, grassroots public education organization dedicated to serving as a watchdog over the legal system and those who would seek to abuse it for undeserved gain. Central California CALA currently has over 3,000 supporters throughout the Central Valley and Sacramento region. Visit www.StopBadLawsuits.com.