William Lerach

William "Bill" Shannon Lerach (born March 14, 1946, Ohio River Valley, Lerach has stated that about 85% of his cases were brought due to insider trading, which he described as “footprints in the snow.”

Background Lerach was appointed by President Clinton to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council in 1998.

In 2007, Lerach pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice for concealing illegal payments to a plaintiff and ordered to forfeit $7.75 million. He was sentenced to a two-year prison term. He was disbarred in 2009. His case and sentencing were presided over by US District Court Judge John F. Walter.

Lerach earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Pittsburgh. He gave the May 2003 Commencement Address "American Law: Instrument of Social Progress or Weapon of Repression?" at Pittsburgh's School of Law. The University of Pittsburgh bestowed one of its highest awards on Lerach, designating him a "Legacy Laureate" reserved for the university's most outstanding graduates. He was a major financial donor to Democratic Party organizations at the state and national level. and November 21, 2003.

Cheney and Halliburton Lerach was successful in suing some of the largest names in American business and was suing Halliburton and its then CEO Dick Cheney, the Vice President of the United States, when he fell from grace.

According to a June 2007 statement in which he alluded to the ongoing Milberg Weiss investigation, In the same month, Lerach and writer, Patrick Dillon appeared on KPBS-FM, the San Diego NPR affiliate, to discuss the book.

Lerach and co-author, Patrick Dillon discussed the book on KPBS-FM in San Diego in March 2010.

Consulting and lecturing In his post-law practice years, Lerach has regularly lectured in law school classes at the Univ of San Diego, Univ of CA-Berkeley, Univ of CA-San Diego in La Jolla and Univ of Southern California discussing his career and many epic battles fighting major corporate fraud and related matters. He has also lectured and been interviewed for many years on the financial crises facing many state pensions and, additionally, has served as a consultant re litigation in these matters. He has also delivered two compelling lectures describing the battle to recover billions in damages for slave labor and theft of assets during the Holocaust at UC San Diego's Great Hall and at their Geisel Library.

Lectures The Holocaust Litigations: Defining Guilt, Extracting Reparations – with William Lerach from UC San Diego Geisel Library