Litigation

Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the plaintiffs' attorney who took on tobacco companies like Brown & Williamson (the subject of a 1999 Movie The Insider), was sentenced Friday to five years in prison for his role in a judicial bribery case. Scruggs earned hundreds of millions of dollars and became one of the wealthiest tort attorneys in the country during a legal career that took him to the top of his profession. But in March, Scruggs and former law partner Sidney Backstrom pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a Mississippi judge.

This isn't the first time someone at the top of their profession to jump off a cliff and it unfortunately likely isn't the last.

What leads a man at the top of his profession to kickback money to a judge and destroy his own reputation and legacy? Take your pick from greed, arrogance and a reason of your choosing. 

This is not a political thing. There are many ultra successful trial lawyers who do things honestly.