Former Milberg Weiss Attorney Guilty in Kickback Case

A former partner with a prestigious New York law firm that made an estimated $250 million by filing class-action lawsuits against some of America's largest corporations has pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge.

Steven G. Schulman was charged in Los Angeles as part of a seven-year investigation into allegations that kickbacks were paid to people who agreed to be plaintiffs in class-action suits handled by the firm now known as Milberg Weiss.

The 56-year-old lawyer entered his plea in U.S. District Court after agreeing in a plea deal to forfeit $1.85 million to the government and to pay a $250,000 fine, the U.S. attorney's office has said.

The case has produced indictments and guilty pleas by several former partners and lawyers at the firm previously known as Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman.