{{Short description|US law firm}} {{use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox law firm | name = Milberg, PLLC | logo = | image_size = | alt = | headquarters = New York City, United States | num_offices = | offices = U.S., UK, Germany, Portugal, and Netherlands | num_partners = | num_attorneys = | num_employees = | practice_areas = | key_people = | revenue = | profit_per_equity_partner = | date_founded = {{start date|1965}} | founder = | company_type = Professional Limited Liability Company | traded_as = | homepage = {{URL|https://milberg.com/|milberg.com}} | dissolved = }}
'''Milberg, PLLC''' (formerly known as '''Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC''', '''Milberg LLP''', '''Milberg Weiss LLP''' and '''Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman LLP''') is an U.S. plaintiffs' law firm. Founded in 1965, it is headquartered in New York City, and primarily focuses on class action litigation, with offices across the United States, and in London.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Badawi |first1=Adam B. |last2=Webber |first2=David H. |date=2015 |title=Does the Quality of the Plaintiffs' Law Firm Matter in Deal Litigation? |url=https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1036&context=faculty_scholarship |journal=The Journal of Corporation Law |volume=41 |issue=2 |page=120 |authorlink2=David H. Webber |access-date=19 November 2019}}</ref>
==History== In May 2004, Milberg was the largest plaintiff law firm in the United States, with over 200 attorneys, and had been responsible, in whole or part, for over 50 percent of all securities class action cases settled in 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://securities.stanford.edu/Settlements/REVIEW_1995-2002/Through2002.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060712194228/http://securities.stanford.edu/Settlements/REVIEW_1995-2002/Through2002.pdf|title=1995–2003 Securities Settlements Review (pdf)|archive-date=July 12, 2006}}</ref>
On May 18, 2006,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/us/18cnd-legal.html?ex=1305604800&en=b01b688a560ca3d5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt Milberg Weiss Is Charged With Bribery and Fraud], Julie Creswell, ''The New York Times'', May 18, 2006.</ref><ref>[https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/milbergpress05182006.pdf U. S. Department of Justice press release].</ref> the firm and two of its named partners, David J. Bershad and Steven G. Schulman (Schulman resigned in December 2006), were indicted by a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Central District of California on various counts, including racketeering, mail fraud, and bribery. The charges included claims that Milberg Weiss paid portions of its legal fees to plaintiffs in order to induce them to sue.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Peter Elkind |date=November 3, 2006 |title=The fall of America's meanest law firm: Milberg Weiss, the lawsuit factory that took corporations for $45 billion, is in the feds' cross hairs. |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393127/?postversion=2006103111 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105011533/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393127/?postversion=2006103111 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 5, 2007 |work=Fortune |quote=…Milberg Weiss and the two outsized personalities who ruled the place, Mel Weiss and Bill Lerach… has been indicted for allegedly paying three plaintiffs $11.4 million in illegal kickbacks in about 180 cases spanning 25 years - and then repeatedly lying about it to the courts.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 30, 2005 |title=Class-action lawsuits |url=http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_QTPSTRN |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>
Following a significant downsizing in 2006 and 2007, the firm had 53 attorneys as of June 2008.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/us/18cnd-legal.html?ex=1305604800&en=b01b688a560ca3d5&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt Milberg Weiss Is Charged With Bribery and Fraud], Julie Creswell, ''The New York Times'', May 18, 2006.</ref><ref>[https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/milbergpress05182006.pdf U. S. Department of Justice press release].</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Peter Elkind |date=November 3, 2006 |title=The fall of America's meanest law firm: Milberg Weiss, the lawsuit factory that took corporations for $45 billion, is in the feds' cross hairs. |url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393127/?postversion=2006103111 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105011533/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2006/11/13/8393127/?postversion=2006103111 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 5, 2007 |work=Fortune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=June 30, 2005 |title=Class-action lawsuits |url=http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_QTPSTRN |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>
On June 16, 2008, U.S. prosecutors in Los Angeles dismissed the indictment against the firm, under a non-prosecution agreement, and a statement by the government that "no attorney currently a partner or associate with Milberg LLP is criminally culpable" with respect to conduct charged in the indictment. Milberg agreed to pay $75 million to settle the charges.<ref>{{cite web |title=Law.com |url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202422319517&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1}} </ref> However, four longtime Milberg Weiss partners—Steven Schulman, David Bershad, William Lerach, and Melvyn Weiss—pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the kickback scheme. Weiss received a 30-month sentence and $10 million in fines and restitution. Lerach was sentenced to two years in prison, probation, a $250,000 fine, and community service. Bershad serviced six months and forfeited $7.75 million. All were released by early 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Martha Graybow |date=March 21, 2008 |title=US shareholder lawyer Melvyn Weiss to plead guilty |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/telecomm/idUSN2040163220080321 |work=Reuters}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Dawn Kawamoto |date=July 9, 2007 |title=One of the lawyers Silicon Valley loves to hate |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9741167-7.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719081819/http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9741167-7.html |archive-date=July 19, 2012 |work=CNET News.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Edvard Pettersson |date=June 2, 2008 |title=Weiss Sentenced to 2½ Years for Kickback Scheme (Update1) |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aGqfpC4ZjoAw&refer=home |work=Bloomberg L.P. |quote=Weiss, 72, must also forfeit $9.75 million and pay a fine of $250,000. He pleaded guilty April 2 to racketeering conspiracy, admitting he helped secretly pay a stable of plaintiffs to file suits from 1979 through 2005. By using them to sue first, the firm was more likely to lead cases and reap larger fees.}}</ref>
In 2018, Milberg merged with Sanders Philips Grossman, a mass tort firm known for its class action lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies, to form Milberg Tadler Phillips Grossman.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/milberg_sanders_philips_grossman|title=Milberg joins forces with mass tort firm Sanders Philips Grossman|first=Lorelei|last=Laird|publisher=ABA Journal|date= 8 January 2018|access-date= 19 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globallegalpost.com/big-stories/class-action-law-firm-milberg-joins-forces-with-pharmaceutical-litigation-law-firm-62001433/|title=Class action law firm Milberg joins forces with pharmaceutical litigation law firm|publisher=Global Legal Post|date=8 January 2018|access-date=23 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/sites/americanlawyer/2018/01/08/milberg-joins-forces-with-mass-torts-personal-injury-firm/?slreturn=20191123111352|title=Milberg Joins Forces With Mass Torts, Personal Injury Firm|first=Scott|last=Flaherty|date=8 January 2018|access-date=23 December 2019}}</ref> In 2019, former partner Steven Schulman sued the firm, and settled.<ref>https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2019/06/11/former-partner-reaches-confidential-deal-with-milberg-in-15m-payment-dispute/</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2019/05/08/milberg-claims-firm-cheated-out-of-12m-fee-in-argentine-bond-case/|title=Milberg Claims Firm Cheated Out of $12M Fee in Argentine Bond Case|first=Jack|last=Newsham|date=8 May 2019|publisher=New York Law Journal|access-date=23 December 2019}}</ref>
In 2021, Milberg Phillips Grossman LLP partnered with Greg Coleman Law PC and Whitfield Bryson LLP to form Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman, PLLC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.law.com/newyorklawjournal/2021/01/05/milberg-mergers-with-3-plaintiff-firms-to-form-international-law-practice/|title=Milberg Merges With 3 Plaintiff Firms to Form International Law Practice | New York Law Journal}}</ref> The firm opened its first international office in the United Kingdom in 2019. Milberg London was ranked as Band 2 in Chambers and Partners’ category of ‘Group Litigation: Claimant’ in 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chambers.com/department/milberg-london-llp-group-litigation-claimant-uk-1:3446:11805:1:23285664|title=Milberg London LLP, Group Litigation: Claimant | Chambers UK Profile|website=chambers.com}}</ref>
==Notable cases== Melvyn Weiss convinced his partner, Lawrence Milberg, to fund class-action securities litigation against Dolly Madison Industries. Dolly Madison had acquired at least 30 companies over an 18-month period and was allegedly facilitating these deals by falsifying its balance sheet to artificially increase its stock price. Weiss and Milberg thought they could win a large payout from Dolly Madison's accounting firm, Touche Ross and Co., a big eight firm in the 1960s. Like most defendants in class actions, Dolly Madison delayed as long as possible and the case did not go to trial until 1973. Shortly before a verdict was rendered Touche settled for $2 million, resulting in a $500,000 fee for Milberg.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Coffee|first1=John|title=Entrepreneurial Litigation|date=2015|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England|isbn=9780674736795}}</ref>
Other early cases included the Ninth Circuit decision in ''Blackie v. Barrack'' in 1975, which established the fraud-on-the-market doctrine for securities fraud actions;<ref>{{cite web |author1=United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit |date=31 December 1969 |title=524 F2d 891 Blackie v. Barrack Ampex Corporation |url=http://openjurist.org/524/f2d/891 |page=891 |language=en |volume=F2d |issue=524}}</ref> the Firm's co-lead counsel position in the In re Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) Securities Litigation,<ref>{{cite web |title=Banken und Finanzprodukte im Vergleich - BankVergleich.com |url=http://altlaw.org/v1/cases/458192 |website=BankVergleich.com |language=de-DE}}</ref> a seminal securities fraud action in the 1980s in terms of complexity and amounts recovered; the representation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a year-long trial to recover banking losses from a major accounting firm, leading to a precedent-setting global settlement; attacking the Drexel-Milken "daisy chain" of illicit junk-bond financing arrangements with numerous cases that resulted in substantial recoveries for investors;<ref>{{cite web |title=Master File No. C-05-1219 MMC |url=http://securities.stanford.edu/filings-documents/1034/ERTS05_01/2005527_f18d_05CV01219.pdf |website=SCAC {{!}} Securities Class Action Clearinghouse}}</ref> and representing life insurance policyholders defrauded by "vanishing premium" and other improper sales tactics and obtaining large recoveries from industry participants. Milberg's attorneys also argued another important case in 2007 before the high court in ''Tellabs Inc. v. Makor Issues & Rights Ltd''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Corporate Defendants Prevail at High Court {{!}} New York Law Journal |url=http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/PubArticleNY.jsp?id=900005484350}}</ref>
On April 15, 2021, Milberg received a $11.1 million verdict on behalf of client Scott Kingston, who alleged IBM wrongfully terminated him after raising claims of racial bias in the treatment of his subordinates.<ref name="MW" /> The award was recognized as one of the top-ten verdict of the year in Top Verdict's Labor & Employment Category.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 10 Labor & Employment Verdicts in the United States in 2021 - TopVerdict.com |url=https://topverdict.com/lists/2021/united-states/top-10-labor-employment-verdicts |website=topverdict.com}}</ref>
In May 2025, Milberg filed a class-action lawsuit against Coinbase for a data breach affecting nearly 70,000 of its customers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weiss |first1=Ben |last2=Robert |first2=Jeff John| title=Inside the $400 million Coinbase breach: An Indian call center and teenage hackers |url=https://fortune.com/crypto/2025/05/29/coinbase-hack-the-community-taskus-bpos-teenagers/ |access-date=18 February 2026 |work=Fortune |date=29 May 2025}}</ref> The cryptocurrency exchange estimates that the breach may cost as much as "$400 million in reimbursements, legal costs, and security upgrades."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jolly |first1=Jennifer |title=Coinbase victims speak out as breach, brazen hackers and a culture of silence collide |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnists/2025/06/17/coinbase-victims-speak-crypto-exchange-breach/84186278007/ |website=USA Today |publisher=Gannett |access-date=18 February 2026 |date=17 June 2025}}</ref>
== Offices == The firm's offices are located in New York, London, California, Georgia, Mississippi, Washington, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico.<ref name="MW">{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/business-race-and-ethnicity-new-york-north-carolina-human-rights-and-civil-liberties-7ac2fbe7f1806281158d625545ebfec7|title=Milberg Wins $11.1 Million Verdict For IBM Sales Manager Fired After Reporting Bias|date=April 16, 2021|website=AP News}}</ref>
==See also== * ''Lexecon Inc. v. Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach'' * ''Mauldin v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.''
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== *[http://www.milberg.com/ Milberg firm homepage]
Category:Law firms established in 1965 Category:Law firms based in New York City Category:Law firms based in London