Bill Lerach et al out of jail

You might recall the law firm Milberg Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach that specialized in shareholder lawsuits and won billions of dollars for investors. You might also remember four of the firm's lawyers who were sentenced to jail time in connection with a conspiracy in which clients were secretly paid to pursue those shareholder lawsuits (and bringing the firm $251 million in legal fees from 1979 to 2005). Anyway, they're all out of prison, Lerach released on March 8. Bloomberg caught up with them to see how it went.

"It's no fun being in prison," Lerach said in an interview when asked about his time behind bars. "You are away from your family, your loved ones and your dogs."

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While in prisons in Lompoc, California, and Safford, Arizona, Lerach read books, kept a diary and stayed abreast of the financial crisis, he said. "I tried to stay current on the events by watching financial and other news. You sometimes have to push and shove to get CNBC on rather than big truck crash programs, but that was all right," said Lerach, who also spent time in a halfway house and home confinement.

Melvyn I. Weiss, 74, lives in a Boca Raton apartment honing his golf skills and reflecting on his experience behind bars. David J. Bershad, 70, says he's getting his life together ("It was a learning experience," he says of jail time), and Steven Schulman, 58, didn't want to talk.