A Boy Named Sue

News item: The nation’s largest class-action law firm, Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, was recently charged with kicking back more than $11 million to individuals who served as lead plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits, despite a New York law that prohibits attorneys from promising anything of value to induce a person to bring a lawsuit. Milberg Weiss itself realized hundreds of millions of dollars in fees, according to court documents.

ONE WILL RARELY LOSE friends by picking on a law firm in trouble, but here I must tread carefully. You see, dear readers, my hands are not entirely clean in this matter: During the past two decades I have served as a lead plaintiff in a number of direct marketing-related actions launched by Milberg Weiss. The details of three such suits follow.

A while back, I attempted to launch a career in sales. Beguiled by the promise that I would