In a three-way matchup that will have the securities litigation bar watching, the Recorder reports (free regist. req’d) that the recently split law firms of Milberg Weiss and Lerach Coughlin are battling it out for the lead plaintiff/lead counsel position in the securities class actions filed against Chiron, a flu vaccine manufacturer, in the N.D. of Cal. Who will preside over this battle? None other than Chief Judge Vaughn Walker.
Judge Walker recently got into a highly-publicized disagreement with Milberg Weiss (when the two firms were still together) over the lead plaintiff contest in the Copper Mountain litigation. After the proposed lead plaintiff represented by Milberg Weiss decided not to fill that role (despite having won a 9th Circuit appeal on the issue), Judge Walker compared him to a “heroic prince” who turned into a “frog.” Stay tuned.
The 10b-5 Daily 