Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Scruggs, son, others charged with conspiring to bribe judge.( Trent Lott's Brother in Law )
Sun Herald( South Mississippi ) ^ | Wed, Nov. 28, 2007 | ANITA LEE

Posted on 11/28/2007 7:23:30 PM PST by Leisler

click here to read article


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

1 posted on 11/28/2007 7:23:32 PM PST by Leisler
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Leisler

Scruggs, whose brother-in-law is Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., earned millions from asbestos litigation and from his role in brokering a multibillion dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the mid-1990s. After Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005, the Gulf Coast native sued insurers on behalf of hundreds of policyholders whose claims were denied after the storm.


2 posted on 11/28/2007 7:27:28 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

Dickie must be one dumb lawyer. Should have added a charge of felonious stupidity.


3 posted on 11/28/2007 7:27:50 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

He should have sat on the hundreds of millions he probably made earlier from the tobacco and asbestos settlements.


4 posted on 11/28/2007 7:31:06 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CaptRon

He’s not dumb.

Dickie Scrugg’s WIKI

Richard “Dickie” Scruggs was hired by Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore to assist with a lawsuit against thirteen tobacco companies in the 1990s. Prior to that he was known for his class action lawsuits against the asbestos industry. Settlement of the state’s case against the tobacco companies was for 368 billion dollars (USD). His performance in this case was portrayed in the movie The Insider by Colm Feore. Scruggs also would lead and become a spokesman for the plaintiffs in the Ritalin class action lawsuits. He asserted that the Ritalin defendants, “manufactured a disease”...and “it has been grossly over-prescribed. It is a huge risk.” All five class actions in five separate states were dismissed before trial.

Scruggs attended law school at the University of Mississippi with Mike Moore. He practiced law in Jackson, Mississippi and New York before opening his own private practice in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

Scruggs and his wife Diane are ardent supporters of the University of Mississippi, having made large donations to several organizations on campus. Scruggs Hall was named in their honor. It currently houses the Music department.

Scruggs’ brother-in-law is Senator Trent Lott, former Majority Leader of the US Senate. Scruggs is currently representing Lott through the Scruggs Katrina Group in a lawsuit against insurance company State Farm because of damage stemming from Hurricane Katrina.

Robert Hood tapped Scruggs to file suit against on behalf of Mississippi against numerous insurance companies to recover damages in wake of Katrina. On June 15, 2007, U.S. District Court Judge William Acker, in an opinion recommending that Scruggs be prosecuted for criminal contempt, suggested high pressure tactics were unfairly used to pressure the insurance companies into settlement, and that documents were improperly sent to Hood’s office “for the calculated purpose of ensuring noncompliance with or avoidance.”[1]

On Wednesday, November 28, Scruggs was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he and a group of four others attempted to bribe Mississippi Third Circuit Court Judge Henry L. Lackey with around $40,000. This payment was allegedly in exchange for a favorable ruling in a case involving $26.5 million in disputed legal fees related to his Scruggs Katrina Group litigation team.


5 posted on 11/28/2007 7:31:27 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Cicero

There’s always a lawyer with a bigger yacht or younger third wife.


6 posted on 11/28/2007 7:32:31 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

Trent Lott just resigned from the Senate. Makes a man wonder . . .


7 posted on 11/28/2007 7:33:26 PM PST by live+let_live
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: live+let_live

There are no coincidences...


8 posted on 11/28/2007 7:35:33 PM PST by danneskjold
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Leisler
judge in North Mississippi

I think I see the problem. Things are done a little differently north of I-10.

9 posted on 11/28/2007 7:38:51 PM PST by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

Regardless of his biography, a lawyer who attempts to bribe a judge is dumb.


10 posted on 11/28/2007 7:39:48 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

I’m thinkin’ Dickie went up against the wrong bunch this time. Don’t mess with insurance companies. I’m sure Trent Lott knew what would come of messin’ with State Farm, but he did what he thought was right. It must have been decided by some powers that be that it would be disastrous if insurance companies had to pay for damage that occurred during Hurricane Katrina. It was no big deal to take out big tobacco companies and their coffers. It was no big deal to take out asbestos companies. But don’t mess with insurance.

Not that I’m a fan of Dickie Scruggs. Quite frankly, there are quite a few law firms in MS that give me the heebie-jeebies, no thanks to John Grisham novels.


11 posted on 11/28/2007 7:44:52 PM PST by petitfour
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: CaptRon
There be lots of bribing in law. Er, consultants. Anyways, 40k on a 27 mil deal is pretty insulting.
12 posted on 11/28/2007 7:46:20 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: petitfour

Few people want to pay for a quality house, or quality insurance. You can get anything insured, under any circumstance. You just can’t get it at any old price. I would imagine a glorified stick frame house, below flood level and on open water would be very expensive.


13 posted on 11/28/2007 7:50:09 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

Which might be why the judge turned him in. But I have to disagree on the ‘lots of bribing in law’. 30 years ago I worked in the law. I’m currently a paralegal student. From my experience, lawyers, for the most part, avoid ehtics violations like the plague.


14 posted on 11/28/2007 7:51:32 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: CaptRon
Well, when lawyers write the rules, they can color within their own lines very comfortably.
15 posted on 11/28/2007 7:54:13 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: WKB; wardaddy; ejonesie22; bkwells; DogwoodSouth; WileyPink; jmax; Islander7; 2ndDivisionVet; ...

MS Ping


16 posted on 11/28/2007 7:55:03 PM PST by petitfour
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

True, but attempted bribe of a judge is coloring waaaaaaay outside the lines.


17 posted on 11/28/2007 7:55:18 PM PST by CaptRon (Pedicaris alive or Raisuli dead)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: CaptRon

It is a bit gauche. Perhaps whispering of a Federal Judgeship would of been more in order. What with a state and Federal pension and all. Nothing on paper mind you, and all because of the agust judge coming to the lucky attentions of others.


18 posted on 11/28/2007 7:58:33 PM PST by Leisler (RNC, RINO National Committee. Always was, always will be.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Leisler

A corrupt trial lawyer? Who would have thought!


19 posted on 11/28/2007 7:58:59 PM PST by OldCorps
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: petitfour; WKB

Thanks, petitfour!

Cross-linking with an earlier thread...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1931940/posts


20 posted on 11/28/2007 7:59:08 PM PST by dixiechick2000 (There ought to be one day-- just one-- when there is open season on senators. ~~ Will Rogers)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-30 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson