Milton Pollack, 97; Federal Judge Oversaw Corruption Cases

Milton Pollack, 97, a federal judge who oversaw several corporate corruption cases, died Friday at a hospital in New York City of complications from surgery, his family said.

Widely regarded as an expert in securities law, Pollack presided over the Drexel Burnham Lambert bankruptcy case in the late 1980s and early ‘90s. That case encompassed claims against the company itself and several of its executives, including Michael Milken. Pollack ultimately approved a settlement of more than $1 billion; the amount was later reduced.

Last year Pollack dismissed class actions by investors who alleged that Merrill Lynch & Co. defrauded them by issuing biased analyst research. Pollack called the plaintiffs “high-risk speculators” who “now hope to twist the federal securities laws into a scheme of cost-free speculators’ insurance.”

Pollack grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Columbia University Law School. He practiced law for 38 years before President Lyndon Johnson named him to the federal bench in 1967.