Didn't anyone tell Enron crook Skilling's shysters that when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas? (Of course, they still collected $40M.)

Okay, it's Schadenfreude, but is there any law against it? It seems that Enron ex-crook-in-chief Jeff Skilling just can't break the habit of stiffing folks he does "business" with:

"To the list of employees, investors and businesses who suffered financial misfortune in Enron Corp.'s demise," writes Carrie Johnson in today's Washington Post, "add this one: the law firm defending former chief executive Jeffrey K. Skilling.

"Los Angeles-based O'Melveny & Myers LLP, which has represented Skilling on both civil and criminal charges since 2001, collected what in a typical case would be a fat payday: $23 million from its client and $17 million more from his insurance policies.

"But, true to form, Enron is still destroying financial expectations. Even before the trial began in January, Skilling's team of more than 20 lawyers, paralegals and support staff burned through those funds, leaving the law firm holding the bag for 'multiple tens of millions' of dollars in unpaid fees and expenses racked up during the four-month trial, Skilling's lead defense lawyer said. While Daniel M. Petrocelli declined to provide an exact tally, one source put the price tag at more than $25 million on top of the $40 million O'Melveny already collected."


SATURDAY UPDATE: SKILLING IS STILL ALIVE AND NO ONE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE STOLEN MONEY IS

Awaiting an October sentencing, serial criminal Jeffrey Skilling of Bush-Enron has been shopping a story about contemplating suicide after he was caught stealing millions of dollars from the publicly traded company. Needless to say, right-wing propaganda sheet the Wall Street Journal bit. Had anyone asked DWT we would have just reminded him that it is never too late and that a Republican rotting corpse always makes for a more compelling story.