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19 Years of Advocacy
Today marks the 19th anniversary of the founding of our public charity, the CDLU. The late Hortensia Magaña and K.B. Forbes founded the organization in 2001 after numerous other public charities refused, out of fear, to tackle the powerful hospital sector for price-gouging uninsured minorities. Without fear, the CDLU has vigorously fought for inherent goodness, fairness, and justice. Our organization has spurred three U.S. Congressional investigations, and countless federal, state, local, and Civil Rights probes. Even after the most heated and fierce fights, as a gesture of goodwill, we have built solid relationships with our former opponents. We are a…
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Secret Deal? Alabama Power was “Unmentionable” During Corruption Trial
The fallout over the jaw-dropping photos of Mark Crosswhite’s meeting with U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town has shattered the glass house and loosened tight lips. We learned yesterday about the alleged secret deal between Alabama Power and Town: During the criminal trial of Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert and Drummond executive David Roberson in July of 2018, criminal defense attorneys were allegedly instructed not to mention Alabama Power or their ties to the money laundering entity Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) without first clearing it with Alabama Power’s criminal attorney. The secret deal is an absolute…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Jaw-Dropping Photos: Mark A. Crosswhite’s Meeting with U.S. Attorney Rocks Alabama Power
Stuffed in an unmarked, unlabeled manila envelope, several 8 X 10 photos appear to confirm what ex-Drummond Company Executive and “fall guy” David Roberson has repeatedly declared: Before Roberson was indicted, his friend Mike Cole had told Roberson that Cole and Alabama Power’s CEO Mark A. Crosswhite had a meeting with the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay E. Town. Crosswhite was attempting to allegedly quash the prosecution of anyone who had been accused of bribing disgraced politician Oliver Robinson. Town allegedly replied that he was confirmed too late to kill the North Birmingham Bribery prosecution and…
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Free-Falling: Balch Eyed by Competitors; More Defections Coming?
Like vultures, the competitors of Balch & Bingham are eyeing specific practice groups and talent at the embattled firm, ready to scoop up veteran partners and money-makers. Hiring the best and brightest, competitors may begin to target Balch’s satellite offices in other states and pick up some terrific talent like Richard E. Glaze who left Bach’s Atlanta office in September. Last week’s major, earth-shattering defection of Balch legacy partner Jesse S. Vogtle, Jr. and three of his money-making colleagues to a law firm based in Nashville, Tennessee, Balch appears to have lost top veterans in their finance and real estate…
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Ruining a Rival becomes Ruining Themselves
[This post originally appeared on January 15, 2018. With the recent departure of Balch & Bingham’s first-ever Chief Compliance Officer Steve Feaga, and legacy partner Jesse S. Vogtle, Jr. and three other money-making partners, this post has become even more relevant.] As we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we remember the struggles for equality in the decade of the 1960s. We also recall the Alabama Supreme Court decision from 1961 which Balch & Bingham used to justify their unconscionable interference in Burt Newsome’s livelihood. In their 2016 amended motion for summary judgment, Balch wrote that the “Alabama Supreme…
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Shock: Balch’s First-Ever Chief Compliance Officer Out
Stephen P. Feaga, a pillar of integrity who had served the Deputy Director of Enforcement and Litigation at the Alabama Securities Commission before joining Balch & Bingham in 2018, has left the embattled firm. He was Balch’s first-ever Chief Compliance Officer. Some may ask: If a law firm refuses to comply with “the highest ethical standards” and “best business practices,” what good is a chief compliance officer? Although extremely disappointed that Feaga, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, was mostly silent these past two years, we believe his hiring by Balch was nothing more than window dressing. Last year, revelations and…
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No Rx Coverage: Drummond’s Horrific Betrayal
After David Roberson, the Vice President of Government Affairs at Drummond Company, was convicted allegedly because of Balch & Bingham’s untruthful legal advice, Drummond issued a public statement calling him a “man of integrity” and vowed to support him. Behind closed doors, Drummond allegedly promised to provide Roberson with legal representation, full-salary compensation, and health benefits until his appeal process was completed. Instead, David Roberson was fired last February. We learned that his healthcare benefits were terminated and now his family has to pay thousands of dollars for prescription drugs. After selling the family home, organizing an estate sale, liquidating…
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Crippling Blow: Vogtle and Three Seasoned Partners Leave Balch & Bingham
A crippling blow: Jesse S. Vogtle, Jr., the long-time Balch & Bingham partner, and three of his fellow partners have left the embattled firm, according to a report this late afternoon in the Birmingham Business Journal. Vogtle symbolized the longtime relationship between Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham. Vogtle was at Balch for over 31 years and has now joined Nashville-based Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis LLP along with his colleagues Randolph H. Lanier, Eric T. Ray, and Paul H. Greenwood. Vogtle’s grandfather, Alvin W. Vogtle, had been the Chairman and President of Southern Company, Alabama Power’s parent company, before…
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Happy New Year! Balch & Bingham Dumped
What a terrible way to start 2020. Balch & Bingham, which tried to rehabilitate their Washington D.C. lobbying practice last November, saw two lobbying clients dump the firm in recent days. According to a January 9th report in Politico.com, Northern Star Generation, one of two major clients left in D.C., terminated the firm. The writing was on the wall. We reported in September that “Northern Star Generation has paid Balch only $30,000 [in 2019], compared to $160,000 [in 2018].” We, the CDLU, had reached out to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), a joint owner of Northern Star Generation, calling…
