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San Diego Congressman Bob Filner, the lone Democrat in the race for San Diego mayor, is staging a fundraiser at the posh La Jolla digs of fallen La Jolla lawyer Bill Lerach and his wife Michelle.
"It's spring!" says an invitation to the May 12 event. "Come join us for a pleasant afternoon in La Jolla and hear Bob's plans for the future of San Diego.
"Spring toward a bright future with Bob Filner for Mayor 2012!"
Admission is $500 a person for a "V.I.P. Reception" and an "Art and Garden" tour of the Lerach estate.
The general reception following will cost $100.
The host committee list includes the names of former San Diego city councilwoman Donna Frye; state Sen. Christine Kehoe; Assemblywoman Toni Atkins; city council members David Alvarez and Marti Emerald; and San Diego school board members Kevin Beiser, John Lee Evans, and Richard Barrera.
In recent years, Lerach's house has become the fundraising venue of choice for many Democrats, including city councilwoman Sherri Lightner, currently facing a vigorous challenge from the GOP.
Two years ago, our Don Bauder described the place as "a cliffside villa" and went on to describe Lerach's rise and fall as a shareholder champion and bête noire of the board room:
"As an attorney who filed hundreds of class-action suits against corporations, he became a bigger fraudster than a lot of the companies he was pursuing.
"First, he filed many dubious suits, rejoicing when 90 percent of the companies decided to settle for millions of dollars rather than spend the time and money fighting.
"That stratagem wasn’t illegal, but it was grossly unethical — the classic shakedown.
"Companies called it getting 'Lerached.'
"Second, Lerach and his firms paid fat kickbacks to shifty characters to become plaintiffs in those lawsuits.
"That was illegal, landing Lerach in prison."
"Now he is out, residing comfortably in one of the county’s most luxurious spreads, a cliffside villa in La Jolla.
"He is worth an estimated $700 million. The government made him pay a mere $7.5 million for his crimes.
"The profane, volatile, bullying Scotch guzzler and work addict — now on his fourth marriage — can no longer practice law but is preparing to teach a course at the University of California Irvine School of Law."
San Diego Congressman Bob Filner, the lone Democrat in the race for San Diego mayor, is staging a fundraiser at the posh La Jolla digs of fallen La Jolla lawyer Bill Lerach and his wife Michelle.
"It's spring!" says an invitation to the May 12 event. "Come join us for a pleasant afternoon in La Jolla and hear Bob's plans for the future of San Diego.
"Spring toward a bright future with Bob Filner for Mayor 2012!"
Admission is $500 a person for a "V.I.P. Reception" and an "Art and Garden" tour of the Lerach estate.
The general reception following will cost $100.
The host committee list includes the names of former San Diego city councilwoman Donna Frye; state Sen. Christine Kehoe; Assemblywoman Toni Atkins; city council members David Alvarez and Marti Emerald; and San Diego school board members Kevin Beiser, John Lee Evans, and Richard Barrera.
In recent years, Lerach's house has become the fundraising venue of choice for many Democrats, including city councilwoman Sherri Lightner, currently facing a vigorous challenge from the GOP.
Two years ago, our Don Bauder described the place as "a cliffside villa" and went on to describe Lerach's rise and fall as a shareholder champion and bête noire of the board room:
"As an attorney who filed hundreds of class-action suits against corporations, he became a bigger fraudster than a lot of the companies he was pursuing.
"First, he filed many dubious suits, rejoicing when 90 percent of the companies decided to settle for millions of dollars rather than spend the time and money fighting.
"That stratagem wasn’t illegal, but it was grossly unethical — the classic shakedown.
"Companies called it getting 'Lerached.'
"Second, Lerach and his firms paid fat kickbacks to shifty characters to become plaintiffs in those lawsuits.
"That was illegal, landing Lerach in prison."
"Now he is out, residing comfortably in one of the county’s most luxurious spreads, a cliffside villa in La Jolla.
"He is worth an estimated $700 million. The government made him pay a mere $7.5 million for his crimes.
"The profane, volatile, bullying Scotch guzzler and work addict — now on his fourth marriage — can no longer practice law but is preparing to teach a course at the University of California Irvine School of Law."