In a detailed report this morning outlining communication exchanges with embattled law firm Balch & Bingham, Alabama Today exposed that Balch lied twice about representing Joann Bashinsky (Mrs. B), the widow of the Golden Flake Foods founder who is worth $218 million.

Alabama Today in a report titled “Balch & Bingham and the lies they’ve told” writes about the dishonesty:

Lie one: The day [Balch & Bingham partner Amy Davis] Adam’s left the case. The statement… saying that Adams was withdrawing from the case, was sent May 20, 2020. Yet, Adams was copied on emails related to the case, and her name was on filings related to the case for weeks following….

Lie two: Upon getting word that Adam’s name on documents and emails, [Alabama Today] reached out to ask why there was no record of her withdrawing from the case. That’s where the second lie comes in. {A Balch spokesperson] tells me that no written request for withdrawal is required, an answer she would have needed to get from Adams herself or another lawyer.

On June 25, 2020, a little over 2 weeks after Wall says no withdrawal is needed, what does Adams finally get around to doing? Well, ….She files for withdrawal.

Having worked closely with Greg Hawley, the appointed Conservator of Jefferson County, and Judge Alan L. King (who had appointed Hawley in 2013), Amy Adams’ conduct has come under scrutiny after Mrs. B recorded and released her conversations with Hawley and Adams to Alabama Today.

Judge King abruptly “retired” hours after the audio recordings were published.

Alabama Today published the motion to withdraw which states that Hawley will continue to be represented by lawyers of Sirote & Permutt, P.C.

And why is the law firm of Sirote & Permutt, P.C. so significant, now, today, this very moment?

They are one of two law firms fighting the appointment of James P. Naftel II as Judge King’s replacement and filed suit against Alabama Governor Kay Ivey yesterday.

AL.com writes:

The lawsuit does not challenge Naftel’s qualifications but says the appointment is not valid because state law requires the governor to choose from three nominees submitted by the Jefferson County Judicial Commission.

The Governor disputes their argument.

The alleged elderly exploitation scandal has exposed the need for transparency and a criminal investigation.

Kudos to Alabama Today for exposing the alleged elderly abuse.

Now is the time for the FBI to probe all transactions, track wealth building, and conduct a forensic audit of all conservator estates and the personal finances involving Judge Alan L. King, Balch & Bingham’s Amy Davis Adams, and JeffCo Conservator Greg Hawley.

As they say, money is the root of all evil. Corrupt money is the root of all bribery.

A third installment of Alabama Today’s investigative series on the Elderly Exploitation racket exposes the outrageous fees manifested by insiders who appear to be gaming the system for their own pockets while dwindling assets of estates.

Alabama Today writes about the horrific experience of Susan Evans whose father was forced into conservatorship after suffering early signs of dementia.

The judge is none other than Jefferson County Probate Judge, Alan King. The conservator is none other than veteran litigator and probate lawyer, Greg Hawley. The witness whose alleged false and unconfirmed testimony caused the court to move the temporary conservatorship to permanent? Is none other than Hawley’s own assistant, Margaret Holland.

If you’ve been following along in this series those names will sound familiar. They’re the same two players involved in the Joann Bashinsky [Mrs. B] case.  As a matter of fact, they’re the same players as a number of cases in Jefferson County, Alabama.

Balch & Bingham’s Amy Adams has yet to be fired for the alleged unethical and egregious conduct before Mrs. B, who brilliantly recorded her meetings with Hawley and Adams.

Adams will be investigated further, reports say. Alabama Today writes, “(Don’t worry, if you’re missing Hawley’s “friend” Amy Davis Adams from Balch & Bingham, she too will return in several future installments of this series beginning later this week.)”

A new report from Legal Schnauzer focuses on why Joann Bashinsky, the widow of the founder of Golden Flake Foods, was allegedly mislead by Balch & Bingham’s partner Amy Adams and forced into a court ordered guardianship and conservatorship by Judge Alan L. King.

The conclusion is simple: Mrs. B’s enormous wealth. She is worth $218 million.

What we do know is that Balch was going to bill Mrs. B at $425 an hour, according to audio recordings published by Alabama Today.

However, Legal Schnauzer writes:

A legal source spells out in stark terms the law and math in the Bashinsky case, while also providing insight into Alabama’s nasty courtroom culture:

Judge King completely ignored the letter of Ms. Bashinsky’s personal physician of five years and instead used a report from a Dr. Carolyn Harada to declare her incompetent and appointed a conservator so that the conservator could hire out Balch and Bingham as the conservator’s attorney and they could all claim a fee of 4 percent of her $218-million estate–a total of almost $9 million and a complete scam. I wonder how much of that fee was going back to Judge King as a reward for his dirty deed.

Our source has little doubt about what drove judge King’s retirement:

Judge King has resigned over the leaked Bashinksy tapes. I do not think he wants the FBI investigating how much of that 4-percent fee, which he was going to award to Balch on Ms. Bashinsky’s $218-million net worth, was [allegedly] going to be kicked back to him.

Judge King abruptly announced his retirement on Sunday just hours after damning audio files were posted by media outlet Alabama Today. (Audio files can be heard here.)

Now federal investigators appear to have 9 million reasons to investigate Judge King, Balch partner Amy Adams, and the Conservator of Jefferson County, Greg Hawley, a friend of Judge King who appointed Hawley Conservator in 2013.

Thankfully for Mrs. B and the rule of law, the Alabama Supreme Court stayed all actions on this case in January, a major setback to Balch and company.

“I’m sure I’ve made plenty of mistakes.”

Judge Alan L. King

Alan L. King, the Jefferson County probate judge who signed off on an order drafted by his longtime pal Greg Hawley that forced an alleged corrupt guardianship and financial control directive upon an 88 year-old grandmother worth $218 million announced his abrupt retirement this morning, according to al.com.

The announcement comes just hours after the release of damning audio files from media outlet Alabama Today of Balch & Bingham partner Amy Adams allegedly telling Joann Bashinsky, known as Mrs. B and the widow of the founder of Golden Flake Foods, could run out of money, lose her home, and have to fire staff.

Greg Hawley, appointed as Conservator of Jefferson County by King in 2013, can be heard rejecting Adams about her alleged false claims, stating he has yet to get a complete, “whole financial picture” but “cannot say” what Adams told Mrs. B.

Even though Mrs. B allegedly refused to hire Balch partner Adams, Hawley hired her under his directive and authority at a cost of $425 an hour.

In January, the Alabama Supreme Court stayed all the shenanigans of King, Hawley and Balch & Bingham.

In today’s announcement, King states, ““I’m not really one to look back and worry about stuff. I’ve worked hard,” he said. “I’m sure I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but none that I really dwell on.”

Federal investigators should dwell on the grave injustice and alleged elderly exploitation of Mrs. B and hold Balch & Bingham’s Amy Adams, County Conservator Greg Hawley, and Judge King accountable.

Like disgraced former State Representative Oliver Robinson, King is foolish to think that “resignation” or “retirement” could impede a criminal investigation.

Alabama Today was the first to report the allegations of elderly exploitation and abuse by a Balch & Bingham partner last Friday.

Now the news outlet has dropped audio files of Balch partner Amy Adams allegedly threatening 88 year-old Joann Bashinsky, known as Mrs. B.

Friday’s news story has been updated with audio files and they are damning. (Alabama Today audio files are also located on the bottom of this post.)

Telling Mrs. B she could run out of money, lose her home, have to fire her staff, Adams was pushing overtly to represent Mrs. B, but Mrs. B said no, according to Alabama Today.

Ignoring Mrs. B, Greg Hawley, the Conservator for Jefferson County, (pictured above, left) hired Balch & Bingham to represent Mrs. B.

As Alabama Today reported:

Nevermind that at the beginning of the conversation [Balch partner] Adams gives her word that she’s not interested in helping Hawley just in being Mrs. B’s attorney, “When Greg called me I told him the only way I’d do it is if we could fire him because I wasn’t going with him. I’d only go with you and that’s what I told him that’s the only I would come.” 

It wasn’t just a promise by Adams that she would only represent Mrs. B. Here’s what Hawley said, “Let me tell you, there are lawyers – Amy’s very decisive. Some people use the B-word to describe her, okay. She’s a great lawyer, but she’s very decisive, and she will represent you. And I even told her, and I’ll tell you this and I’ll tell you this, in front of her, and I’ll put it in writing that if she ever sees a conflict of interest developing between what’s best for you and something different I say, I want her to represent you, not me.” 

“I want her to represent you, not me.” Those were his words and then he hired her anyway after Mrs. B said she didn’t want her engaged. It’s enough to make one’s head explode.

The root of this power grab is Mrs. B’s $218 million fortune. If Mrs. B were worth $218,000 we doubt we would see these alleged insidious if not unethical shenanigans.

Even the Alabama Supreme Court appears to be disgusted with the shenanigans allegedly involving Balch & Bingham partner Amy Adams and the alleged exploitation of 88 year-old Joann Bashinsky, known as Mrs. B.

In January, the Supreme Court stayed all proceedings against the elderly woman worth $218 million after Mrs. B’s attorneys filed a Writ of Mandamus, according to al.com

The scheme to control Mrs. B’s financial affairs appears to have been orchestrated by two fired employees who had worked for Mrs. B; Greg Hawley, the Conservator of Jefferson County; and Balch’s Adams (above, left) even though Mrs. B allegedly did not want Balch representing her, according to an explosive report on Alabama Today last Friday.

And what did these alleged co-conspirators apparently say was wrong with Mrs. B?

That she has dementia.

Yet the physician who treated Mrs. B for over five years provided written testimony that Mrs. B, even after being tested and treated by a neurologist, did NOT have dementia, and was competent to make decisions on her own.

So why did the court approve an order appointing a temporary conservator and guardian?

Because a letter from Dr. Caroline Harada (above, center) and other reports appear to have declared that Mrs. B had dementia and was “in need of protection.”

And what is Caroline Harada’s connection to Greg Hawley and the alleged co-conspirators?

Harada and Hawley were both listed as contributors to the prestigious, private Highlands School in 2015-2016, where Hawley’s wife Sally had been on the Board of Trustees.

Harada and her significant other, Fred Vars, (above right) a professor of law at the University of Alabama, were listed as contributors to the Highlands School.

Vars has written about mental health, gun violence, and suicide, including a letter to the editor with Harada in 2012 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

And what do they whine about in their letter? A Wisconsin Supreme Court decision holding that individuals with dementia cannot be placed involuntarily into “units for the acutely mentally ill.”

In other words, Mrs. B, worth $218 million, if she had dementia, could be placed involuntarily into a unit for the acutely mentally ill, and that would be just fine, perfectly fine.

Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.