-
FBI: Ex-Balch Partner Gilbert “Will be Serving Time”
Even though many in the legal community in Alabama are currently focused on the Donald Watkins trial, the conviction and five-year sentence of ex-Balch & Bingham partner and ghost-writer extraordinaire Joel I. Gilbert have not gone away. In an extraordinary news post last week on the FBI website, the FBI wrote about the North Birmingham public corruption trial. In the lede, the FBI bluntly wrote: An Alabama legislator who was bribed by a corporation to represent the company’s interests—instead of his constituents’—is now serving prison time, and the two men who paid him will be serving time as well. Why…
-
Institutional Racism and Balch
[This post originally was published on February 5, 2018. All updates are in purple.] Charles Cole lived in the North Birmingham community of Harriman Park until 1959 after he was brutally beaten by racist Birmingham cops. He saved up his money and immediately moved to Michigan to escape the horrors of segregation. After retiring, he and his wife moved back to Harriman Park ten years ago to be close to family. The racist cops are gone; segregation is gone; but institutional racism continues. Balch & Bingham partners allegedly masterminded a $360,000 bribery scheme to suppress, discourage, and disenfranchise African-Americans from…
-
Prosecutorial Misconduct Against Balch Stooges?
Last week, we wrote that we smelled “selective and vindictive” prosecution of indicted Balch stooges Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips. Yesterday, Alabama Political Reporter confirmed discrepancies that appear to confirm allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Bill Britt reported that former Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton had never asked the Alabama Ethics Commission to help him bring the criminal case against Glenn and Phillips. In fact, the truth is the opposite. Britt writes: According to Anderton, in the fall of 2018, Ethics Commission General Counsel Cynthia Propst Raulston approached him because “she had a case she wanted to present to the Jefferson County…
-
Ongoing, Uncontrolled Costs
Last March, we outlined a legal fight in Texas in which Balch & Bingham was defending one of the “nation’s dirtiest sources of power” owned by Luminate against the EPA. Although we, the CDLU, are not environmentalists, conservationists, or preservationist, we do believe in common sense and respecting the community, and we offered this resolution: The EPA can immediately resolve the matter by offering to accept necessary permits without any back-penalties while Luminate vows to upgrade the plant to cut pollution by 90 percent in the next year. Our resolution has gone half-way in that the Fifth Circuit declared that…
-
Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Secret Star Chamber, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Balch Stooges Taste “Selective and Vindictive” Judicial System
Although we believe that the conduct by Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal was reprehensible, we smell “selective and vindictive” prosecution of the Balch stooges. As the attorneys for Trey Glenn wrote in a filing on Monday: By failing to follow the Legislature’s clear directives in the Ethics Act, the [Ethics Commission] Staff acted without legal authority, and no source of legal authority inside or outside of the Act can cure that deficiency. To be sure, the Ethics Act does allow district attorneys and the Attorney General to initiate investigations and prosecutions into alleged violations…
-
Balch & Bingham PAC Plummets; Political Liability Rises
The fake smiles at Balch & Bingham cannot cover up the stark reality. Another indicator of how the exodus of money-making partners appears to have impacted Balch & Bingham, Balch’s federal political action committee saw resources plummet by 13 percent during the 2018 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. An employee-supported PAC, partners and attorneys appear to contribute regular, automated amounts each payroll period based an a small percentage of income received. Through the PAC’s Federal Election Commission filings, we learned that Balch-made millionaire and convicted felon Joel I. Gilbert was still on the payroll through 2017.…
-
Maynard Cooper Big Winner as Balch & Bingham Loses Millions
Of the 17 of 18 lobbying clients that Balch & Bingham lost in Washington, D.C., four top clients leaped to rival law firm Maynard, Cooper & Gale, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. From Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to Quantum Research International, Balch saw a serious exodus of clients. Between 2015 and 2017, Balch made over $3 million in lobbying fees from these ex-clients, averaging $1 million a year. In 2018, Balch’s ex-clients generated almost $2 million in lobbying fees to their new lead lobbying firms. Maynard Cooper took in $820,000 or over 40 percent of the fees. The…
