Legal News

Scruggs Roundup: DOJ?s Pursuit, New Katrina Lawyers, and the New Yorker?s Take

By Dan Slater

Mississippi — to its economic and political credit — is growing inhospitable to its “rich” tort bar, which, as a result, is becoming “less fabulously rich,” according to the WSJ Edit Page’s Stephen Moore. Reading the opinion piece, we couldn’t help think of our fallen friend, Dickie Scruggs, who was once very fabulous but has become somewhat less fabulous in the past six months with his criminal conviction on a charge of conspiring to bribe a judge. Herewith, Scruggs-related pieces of news and a bonus feature:

Putting the fear of God in Dickie? The Clarion Ledger is reporting that, as part of the ongoing investigation into Scruggs and others, the DOJ is considering racketeering as a possible next charge to pursue against Scruggs, suggesting that the DOJ believes it can make out a pattern of judicial bribery by Scruggs.

Former Booneville lawyer Joey Langston already has pleaded guilty to scheming to corruptly influence Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter in another legal-fees dispute involving one of Scruggs’ former law partners, Bob Wilson.

Racketeering, says the piece, can bring a sentence of up to 20 years, plus stiff financial penalties. Still, Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney says, “I think it’s always appealing, but my sense is [racketeering] is generally held out more as a hammer than it’s actually used. It puts the fear of God into potential targets.”

Katrina Plaintiffs Head to Texas: On Thursday, according to the Sun Herald, about 200 ex-Scruggs clients from the State Farm insurance litigation, previously represented by a coalition of lawyers previously known as the Katrina Litigation Group, met with a personal injury firm in Beaumont, Texas called Provost-Umphrey. (As the piece points out, it’s not clear why KLG referred the plaintiffs to a Texas firm that specializes in personal injury.) “Hopefully, we can get this litigation back on track to benefit the clients and, ultimately, the courts,” said Provost-Umphrey senior partner Bryan Blevins.

When Scruggs was charged with conspiring to bribe a Mississippi judge, he had to relinquish the cases. A federal judge later said policyholders needed to find new lawyers entirely beyond KLG due to Scruggs-related ethics breaches that he said KLG was responsible for.

Don Barrett, who headed KLG, wrote to the firm’s 400 clients last month, suggesting they hire Provost-Umphrey. Barrett told the Sun Herald that he met managing partner Walter Umphrey during tobacco litigation. But the Sun Herald reports other ties: Umphrey’s firm subleases office space in Nashville from Barrett’s nephew, and Barrett, according to the piece, is listed as an attorney with his nephew’s firm. Barrett said he recommended the firm because it has the resources to handle the cases and because Umphrey agreed to take them on, large or small.

The New Yorker on the Mississippian: The New Yorker magazine today has a ginormous feature on Scruggs. For Scruggs hounds (like us) who’ve been following the saga all along, reading time is best spent on the last few pages. The reporter, Peter Boyer, turned up some nice details about how the bribe went down. The infamous Timothy Balducci didn’t set out to bribe Judge Lackey, though he eventually did, Boyer writes. And even P.L. Blake made a cameo in the whole affair. Our favorite details: When the feds nabbed Balducci and tried to enlist him in nailing Scruggs, AUSA Tom Dawson told him “‘The only question is, will you see your children graduate from high school.’ Balducci did not hesitate. ‘What do you want me to do.’” Balducci then went on to give a “dazzling performance,” according to a defense team member, in getting Scruggs to make the ultimate incriminating statements, on the government’s wire.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on May 12, 2008 (boomark / email).