Dreier's Lavish Lifestyle

Marc Dreier's colleagues could not figure how he supported his four lavish homes on two coasts, his Aston Martin and his 123 foot yacht, or even how he could afford to pay them their oversized compensation when the firm was generating such little business. The answer, of course, was that he couldn't afford it. Dreier's arrest for fraud on December 2 was quickly followed by his firm’s bankruptcy. The Wall Street Journal reports on the lifestyle behind his crimes. Unlike a typical law firm, where partners share power, Dreier managed every detail himself and treated his litigators like paid employees. Secretaries earned more than $200,000 a year. In 2006, Dreier opened a sushi restaurant and liked to party late there with attorneys and "young women" enjoying his favorite delicacy, live California scorpion fish impaled on a stick with the heart still beating. "He liked exotic things," said manager Raphaela Bazalgette. "We were told he came from family money," said Timothy Bechen, who was a week away from being made partner when the firm collapsed.