Insurance Law

"Bye Bye" to Trailer Lawyers again, Scruggs to be deposed, required to give up docments

By David Rossmiller

Team Scruggs just can't catch a break these days.  Disappointingly, Judge Senter refused to overturn his disqualification of the Trailer Lawyers from the False Claims Act case (question: which side is it that's makes the false claims? Remind me).  This means an end to hilarious Trailer Lawyer briefs and antics, an end to angry Trailer Lawyer denunciations of "Snake" Farm, an end to alibis featuring Goofy and Minnie Mouse.  In short, this drains a lot of enjoyment out of this vale of tears, but we will soldier on nonetheless.  Farewell noble Trailer Lawyers, we will miss you, and we offer a complimentary bag of Doritos, a six-pack of Schlitz and an archive edition of The Weekly World News ("Pointed Hat Found Within Lincoln's Stovepipe: Abe Was A Witch!") as lovely parting gifts.  And so exit, stage right, the Trailer Lawyers Burlesque Show: a little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants.

An interesting part of the ruling: Judge Senter says why he didn't disqualify Scruggs the first time he was asked to do so, and why he did the second time:

The first time I considered the issue of disqualification, that issue was presented by State Farm. By the time the issue was raised, State Farm and the SKG had had extensive involvement in the post-Katrina litigation and had at one point jointly presented the Court a proposed settlement of all the remaining State Farm cases. It appeared to me that in light of the extensive dealings that had gone on between the SKG and State Farm the issue of disqualification was being raised to gain an unfair tactical advantage. For this reason I determined that State Farm had waived its right to seek SKG’s disqualification. This was not the case with E. A. Renfroe, Inc. (Renfroe). I granted Renfroe’s motion to disqualify because Renfroe had not waived its right to seek SKG’s disqualification.

In other news, Judge Senter overruled Dickie Scruggs' objections to production of many records, including those involving the supposed "Third Man," a purported third State Farm insider, in Bloomington, whom Scruggs claimed fed him key company documents on the QT.  Question: did you ever hear anyone ever brag about litigation espionage this way before? Whatever was he thinking?  It will be fascinating to see what if anything these documents are.  My guess: a menu from the company cafeteria and some State Farm fridge magnets.   Scruggs will have to turn these documents over before he is deposed. Here's Judge Senter's opinion.  

Full post as published by Insurance Coverage Law Blog on June 20, 2008 (boomark / email).