Balch’s Managing Partner Stan Blanton should be replaced immediately, and Chief Operating Officer David Miceli, who testified in the corruption trial, should promptly step down.
As convicted ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert prepares to possibly share the dark secrets at Balch & Bingham before being sentenced to federal prison, questions about the law firm’s internal culture or more accurately internal blindness is raising red flags.
Why did Gilbert cross the line? Why did Balch & Bingham allow its client Drummond Company to cross the line?
Even though Balch, Gilbert, Drummond and friends have the absolute right to fight government overreach, the EPA, environmental clean-up efforts, and even what some may call the “myth” of global warming, the case against Gilbert was about when they crossed the line: bribing bought-and-paid-for politician Oliver Robinson to engage in official acts while laundering money to pay him.
Who else have they allegedly bribed? What other alleged criminal acts have Balch, Bingham, & Bribery been involved in?
Instead of ridding themselves of cancer, Balch stood by Gilbert, paying him handsomely until the moment he was convicted. Call it loyalty, fierce loyalty.
And what has it brought Balch? Shame, absolute shame.
With the growing scandal that Gilbert spearheaded an effort with his paid goons to target poor African-American children in North Birmingham, Balch appears to have lost any sense of control.
Crossing the line appears to have been no accident.
In the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Robert M. Ronnlund, the spouse of a former Balch partner, appears to have engaged in criminal obstruction of justice and alleged alteration of evidence as Balch fought the Newsome case tooth and nail.
To rid themselves of this culture of crossing the line, the partners at Balch must begin with leadership change.
Balch’s Managing Partner Stan Blanton should be replaced immediately, and Chief Operating Officer David Miceli, who testified in the corruption trial, should promptly step down.
Balch & Bingham is now called Balch, Bingham & Bribery in private circles.
No matter how far they wish to now distance themselves from Gilbert, Balch’s reputation will never rehabilitate until there is change, real change just like at the Business Council of Alabama.
