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Balch’s Questionable Advisors and Birmingham Business Journal’s Worthless and Make-Believe Awards
The pleasure was momentary, but the price was abominable. Another day and more swollen black eyes. Balch & Bingham’s reputation as an alleged racist law firm has stung the embattled firm again. In a lengthy and insightful article about electoral redistricting in the state of Alabama, the AL.com headline screamed, “‘Don’t take us back to Jim Crow’: Redistricting sparks passion, racial tensions in Alabama cities.” AL.com writes: “In Auburn, they are trying to compact all of the African Americans into one district where they could have had two districts that are predominately African American,” said Bernard Simelton, president of the…
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Righteous or Corrupt Verdict? SCOTUS Allows Convictions to Stand; More Indictments Coming?
Today, the Supreme Court of the United States denied a petition for a Writ of Certiorari for ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert. The same goes for ex-Drummond executive David Roberson. Gilbert is serving 5 years in federal prison while Roberson is serving 30 months. Now that the crimes in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal have been affirmed and all legal appeals have been exhausted, are more criminal indictments coming? After their criminal convictions, Assistant U.S. Attorney George Martin, the lead prosecutor of the North Birmingham Bribery Case stated: We’re happy for the citizens of Birmingham that someone is…
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Bloomberg News: Balch & Bingham Must Face Claims of “Misrepresention and Concealment”
We called the Alabama Supreme Court decision on ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil suit a possible “lethal blow” to embattled law firm Balch & Bingham. Now the national media has begun focusing on the narrative and the initial reports appear to be devastating. Bloomberg News writes: Roberson sued [Balch & Bingham] and his former employer in March 2019, alleging negligence, fraud, suppression, and implied imdemnity against the firm. Alabama’s top court…grant[ed] an application for rehearing on claims against Balch & Bingham for misrepresention and concealment based on allegations that Roberson had previously asked the firm’s in-house ethics attorneys…
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Is the U.S. Department of Justice Probing Trump-Era Lackeys from Alabama?
Since November, we have been told by high-level sources that a federal investigation is ongoing in Birmingham and focused on “obstruction” and other alleged crimes. Balch & Bingham appears to be in disarray, suffering from internal strife since late last year and we know that something is going on. In Tuesday’s post, we outlined five areas that could potentially lead to more federal indictments. Today, we list a cast of characters that should be interviewed by federal investigators. Undoubtedly, backers, insiders, lackeys and stooges from Alabama who were tied to the Trump Administration appear to have tried to protect their…
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Update: Alleged Pedophile, Ex-Balch Attorney Espy Waives His Right to a Preliminary Hearing
??Update March 8, 2023: Espy was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison. Read more by clicking here. According to an order signed by Jefferson County Judge Katrina Ross on December 13, 2021, ex-Balch & Bingham attorney Chase T. Espy waived his right to a preliminary hearing. He probably did not want or need the media spotlight. Espy will face a criminal trial this year. According to allegations in his warrant for arrest from August, Espy is accused of “knowingly, with intent to commit an unlawful sex act, entice, induce, persuade, seduce, prevail, advise, lure, or order...a child…to meet the…
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Drummond, Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
More Federal Criminal Indictments Needed Against Three Stooges
With the Alabama Supreme Court saying Balch must stand trial for fraud in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit, more criminal indictments are needed. The Three Stooges of this horrific saga known as the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal need to be held accountable. The rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal may go on for another three or four years in secret, in a sealed and closed Star Chamber. However, federal investigators can and must dig deep into the shenanigans. Larry, Curly and Moe have been replaced by “Lying” Balch, “Confused” Drummond, and “Unmentionable” Alabama Power. 1. More…
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Lethal Blow to Balch & Bingham?
No general counsel or government attorney can justify hiring Balch & Bingham any longer because the firm appears to be a third-party risk. The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court two weeks ago declaring that Balch & Bingham will stand trial for fraud in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit appears to be a lethal blow to the once-prestigious, silk-stocking law firm. The Alabama Supreme Court noted in its decision that the embattled law firm argued that “Balch had owed no duty to Roberson because Drummond, not Roberson, was Balch’s client.” The Supreme Court concluded: For the purposes…
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Drummond, Alabama Power, and the “Illegal Discharge of Pollutants through Underground Water”
Is the contamination of underground water the possible genesis of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal born at the offices of Balch and Bingham? The Birmingham Business Journal reported this week: The U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Alabama determined that substantial, contaminated sub-surface flow discharging from Drummond’s site into the Black Warrior River near Praco on a daily basis is an illegal discharge of pollutants through underground water in violation of federal law. Is Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant next? This past December, CNN reported that the EPA was probing Alabama Power. CNN’s visual and interactive story on polluting ash…
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RICO, Actors, and Staged Events
[This post originally was published on October 22, 2018 before Alabama Power was linked to the staged arrest of Burt Newsome or the filing of ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil suit. The Crosswhite Scandal (alleged imdemnity deals and secret million-dollar contracts) and the ever-growing Matrix Meltdown appear to have spurred a federal investigation. The actors, paid agents, and smear artists serving as apologists to Alabama Power and/or Balch & Bingham have only amplified the alleged insidious and corrupt misconduct. Now in 2022, Crosswhite has done nothing to cut ties with Balch. The secret $2.5 million in contracts with…
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Radioactive: Balch’s Alleged Racism and Tokenism; FBI Raid Talk of Chattering Class
B. Shane Clanton who served for more than two decades at BBVA USA bank including as General Counsel and CEO has joined the law offices of Bradley Arant. BBVA USA’s original charter was co-founded by long-ago Balch attorney Schuyler Allen Baker, Sr. in 1964. Baker was a staunch segregationist and part of racist Alabama Governor George Wallace’s inner circle. Baker Sr. also was part of the legal team that defended Wallace’s intent to keep the University of Alabama segregated until President John F. Kennedy sent in the national guard. Even through all the name changes and acquisitions, BBVA USA was…
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Update: “Pimps of Mississippi” Rental Assistance Debacle Still Turning Tricks
The latest available data from the U.S. Department of Treasury shows that contractual cronyism appears to be inefficient while making Balch & Bingham generous fees. At the end of November, Balch, the “Pimps of Mississippi,” had disbursed a mere 43 percent of the $186 million cash cow, not even the half-way mark! The embattled firm looks like fools when compared to Harrison County, which disbursed all of their resources to those in need, 100 percent, according to the federal data. As The Washington Post reported in August: Balch and [the Mississippi Home Corporation] agreed to a $3.8 million budget for…
