Legal News

Mississippi AG, State Farm Square off Again Today

By Ashby Jones

The suspense! The breathless commentary! The fancy color-coded maps! We sure are going to miss you Super Tuesday. Alas, thankfully, we have another big date to look forward to, one we’re calling Manic Mississippi Monday. That’s the date — March 31 — that Dickie Scruggs’s trial is slated to start down in federal court in Oxford, Miss.

Again, let’s review: the once high-flying plaintiffs lawyer and two colleagues have been indicted on charges related to an alleged attempt to bribe a Mississippi judge. Click here for prior Law Blog coverage.

A couple things to catch you up on in the Scruggs saga:

• All eyes today will be on a proceeding in Jackson, Miss., involving a lawsuit filed by State Farm against the Mississippi attorney general, Jim Hood. State Farm has sued Hood for allegedly violating an agreement in which he said he’d halt a criminal investigation into State Farm’s Hurricane Katrina-related claims-adjusting practices. At issue today: whether to further extend an injunction prohibiting Hood from pursuing his investigation.

  Where does Scruggs come in? State Farm has alleged that Scruggs and Hood were co-conspirators in a larger plan to extract civil settlements from the insurer. Recently, a mini-drama erupted over whether Scruggs would submit to a State Farm deposition and, once he did, whether he would plead the Fifth. It’s still unclear whether Scruggs gave a deposition at all, but Dave Rossmiller at the Insurance Coverage Blog thinks more will be revealed today.

• Earlier this week, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal ran this nice profile of Joey Langston (pictured), who pleaded guilty last month on charges related to an alleged attempt to improperly influence Mississippi judge Bobby Delaughter. According to the story, “How will I face anybody?” is the question that’s been plagueing Langston’s mind ever since the plea. Langston, the former “golden boy” who was named the 2007 Trial Lawyer of the Year, faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 06, 2008 (boomark / email).