SEC to Side With Enron Plaintiffs

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Source: Washington Post

Agency Asks Court to Back Shareholders
Federal securities regulators will throw their weight behind investors in a big-money dispute that could resolve whether shareholders can sue bankers who enabled their corporate clients to engage in fraud, two people familiar with the decision said yesterday.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has asked the U.S. solicitor general to file court papers supporting investors in an upcoming Supreme Court case, an action that has not been made public. The agency's decision follows intense lobbying by industry groups, unions and plaintiff lawyers, including well-known California attorney William S. Lerach.

The move is a significant victory for Lerach, who won $7.3 billion in settlements with banks and law firms that helped Enron disguise its financial problems. If the Supreme Court adopts the agency's position, it could breathe new life into a stalled case filed by Enron shareholders against Merrill Lynch and Barclays Bank. But the SEC backing comes at a bittersweet time for Lerach, whose own future is in question because of government scrutiny.

Earlier this week, Lerach, 61, told partners and clients he might leave his three-year-old San Diego law firm, Lerach Coughlin. The news came at about the same time a former law partner began to explore a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/01/AR2007060102359.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

1. Does this mean that our Florida teachers might get some money

back from the bad decisions made to their pension investments?