Pity about Dreier . . . how about the other 249?

. . . completely overshadowed by Madoff.

But consider, Marc Dreier, Yale College, Harvard Law School, head of litigation in New York for Colonel Jaworski's old law firm, founder and proprietor of his own 250 lawyer litigation shop. Apparently he had the lifestyle of a Russian billionaire (and the scruples, as well), and nobody ever accused him of being the nicest guy in the room.

Admittedly, his $380-million fraud was peanuts compared to Madoff. But there is something over the top about being arrested in two different countries, and in the only picture in the media so far he looks like an unshaven, slightly crazed proprietor of a meth lab. Unlike the Madoff situation, there is some color here, folks, there is entertainment value.

Not that revenues of the docu-drama are likely to be captured for the benefit of the bankruptcy estate.

And I have to feel sorry for the other 249 lawyers. Back in the 70s I knew a decent guy on The Columbia Law Review who fell under the spell of a criminal asshole named Harvey Meyerson, got implicated in a billing fraud and ended up disbarred. Right now, the other 249 lawyers have problems, all right, starting with a looted $38-million trust account. Of course, there's the receivables run-off, but I wouldn't count on that to cover everything. Not by a longshot.