[This post originally appeared exactly one year ago today on November 1, 2017. A Catch-22, any move made by Judge Smitherman or Balch on the 44 retaliatory orders will only solidify Newsome’s civil RICO suit. Now, today, Balch partners need to address the strategic failure of “ruining a rival.”]
Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., a Balch & Bingham partner who filed the amended motion for summary judgment in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, declared that Balch was justified in interfering in Newsome’s business and livelihood because the Alabama Supreme Court allowed “ruining a rival” in a 1961 decision.
But that is untrue.
The Alabama Supreme Court decision clearly states that the defendants in 1961 “were seeking by lawful competition to increase their own businesses by lawful means.”
Wrongly targeting, falsely arresting, and defaming someone in an alleged criminal conspiracy and then allegedly trampling their Civil Rights and stacking the cards against them in a corrupt and secretive Star Chamber cannot be called “lawful competition” or done “by lawful means.”
In May, two months after we had launched BanBalch.com, the same Balch partner, Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., filed a motion to seal all depositions by lying about us.
Citing a change.org petition, Schuyler wrote: “‘Consejo de Latinos Unidos’ (‘CDLU’), … is falsely claiming that Balch ‘cooked up’ Newsome’s arrest charges.”
Untrue. A bold-faced lie.
The change.org petition actually says the following:
“Shortly after his false arrest, a partner at Balch & Bingham, a prestigious law firm in Birmingham…emailed (on a Saturday afternoon) Newsome’s mug shot and cooked-up arrest charges to one or more of Newsome’s clients.”
What we were talking about was the act of emailing. Maybe Schuyler had a Freudian slip of the keyboard.
Apparently, according to Newsome’s amended complaints filed in June and August, Balch appears to have had a more active role in orchestrating the alleged conspiracy.
Clark A. Cooper, the Balch partner who allegedly spearheaded the effort (including the emailing), was fired on March 3.
Why did Balch abruptly fire Cooper? Had “ruining a rival” gone too far? Had Cooper crossed the line?
Now Balch leaders need to question Schuyler and hold him accountable:
- Why did you advocate for the creation of a Star Chamber at the height of two federal probes?
- Why did you intentionally lie about an independent, public advocacy group in a court filing?
- Why did you misquote an Alabama Supreme Court decision and describe Cooper’s alleged “ruining a rival” actions as justified?
