Lawyers Profit from Stock Backdating

With the SEC investigating one hundred public companies, whose executives may have improperly profited from backdating their stock options, a Seattle law firm is checking to see if it can also profit from those companies who eventually admit to the practice. Keller Rohrback is investigating Autodesk and nine other companies [yahoo.com].

I'm not sure how much there is to investigate. In the law suits this firm launched against CableVision and Aspen, it waited for the firms to admit guilt publicly. I am not familiar with legalese, so perhaps "investigating" is the legal term for "reading press releases."

"Its trial lawyers have obtained judgments and settlements on behalf of in excess of seven billion dollars." Assuming the law firm takes 30% for itself, that means it has made $2.1 billion.