The  word spread like wildfire yesterday that the giant of the securities class-action, Mel Weiss, was copping a plea.  Few lawyers will ever be as hated, or have as much impact, in the sphere of business as Mel.  He was nothing if not controversial.

Mel was accused of sharing fees with the named plaintiffs in class actions that made corporate America shudder.  Like his partner,  Bill Lerach before him, Mel admits that he did so.  Aside from issues as to the merit of the prosecution itself, which is water under the bridge at this point, if there was any human being who was going to be nailed to the cross for being one of the most hated men to corporate America for having done his job too well, it was Melvyn Weiss.

In stepped Ben Brafman, a New York City criminal defense lawyer.  What Ben did for Mel Weiss was nothing short of spectacular.  Read Ben’s post-plea agreement statement.  This was an astounding deal, one that Mel would have been insane to pass up.  Ben earned his (I’m sure not inconsequential) fee on this case.

If ever there was a case where one would suppose the government intended to “send a message,” Mel Weiss’ would be it.  They had the case lined up perfectly, with his partners having pled before him and the set up arranged perfectly.  The potential need for the government to cut a deal was slim, bordering on non-existence.  They could have taken as hard a line as they wanted, and there was nothing Mel could have done about.  Yet somehow Ben not only cut a deal, but cut a spectacular one.

What was this spectacular deal? 

The Plea Agreement provides that Mr. Weiss may receive a sentence of from 18-33 months imprisonment, with the Court having the discretion to substitute a period of home confinement and/or community confinement for up to half of any prison sentence, should the Court conclude that a prison sentence is appropriate.  Mr. Weiss has also agreed to pay a total of $10 million dollars in fines and forfeiture penalties.

The message on time is clear enough, so Mel can spend some time gazing out his rear window at Oyster Bay and contemplate the error of his ways.  The $10 million may seem like a lot to some, but that was likely a trade-off of the legal fee he would have spent had he gone to trial.  Well, some of it anyway.  Mel can afford it, and no one need fear that he’ll be suffering any substantial change in lifestyle.

If you are on Ben’s A-list of clients, such as Puffy Daddy and Mel Weiss, you will have one extraordinary lawyer representing you.  While not averse to the limelight, unusual for an orthodox Jew for whom modesty should be a rule of life, Ben has the goods to back it up.  His work can be exemplary.  I’m jealous of him because he gets cases that I want.  But when Ben pulls off a coup like this, I can’t help but admire his extraordinary skill.

Once a regular lawyer, Ben has soared into the stratosphere of top criminal defense lawyers in New York and around the country.  What’s unusual is that many of the well-known names are more a matter of brilliant self-promotion than brilliant lawyering.  Ben is just the opposite, having made his bones through skill and not merely because he has a pretty face or hung at Regines or Reos, kissing up to the powerful. 

Mind you, Ben’s time is spent on his A-list clients, which is what happens when you have A-list clients banging down your door, and there’s only so much brilliance to go around.  So the pseudo-important may be disappointed to find that they aren’t Ben-worthy. 

But let there be no doubt that Ben Brafman is all he’s cracked up to be.  Well done.