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Two Attorneys at Balch & Bingham Out; Both Women Worked on Newsome Conspiracy Case
[New update on bottom]. Our sources at Alabama Power gave us a tip that Balch & Bingham Attorney Katie C. Hill has left Balch & Bingham, and we also learned separately that another top attorney at Balch, Kimberly Bell, has also left the embattled firm. Both women worked as lead attorneys on the controversial Newsome Conspiracy Case under Balch & Bingham’s dinosaur partner Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. (pictured left), who foolishly appears to have let the case turn into a national embarrassment for the once prestigious firm. The Newsome Conspiracy Case, which should have been settled when Balch fired partner Clark…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Saving Balch & Bingham
When we, the CDLU, started our outreach to Balch & Bingham in January of 2017, never would we have thought that we would end up with one of the most widely read blogs in Alabama or that our posts would have been read by over 1.5 million users on Facebook Trying to serve as a bridge between Burt Newsome and Balch & Bingham, we respected Balch & Bingham as a law firm and thought we could resolve the matter amiably by March or April of 2017. Instead, Balch & Bingham’s leadership foolishly turned this into a scorched-earth fight at the…
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Injustice Makes Even Stranger Bedfellows
The talk of Mountain Brook–the elite enclave in Birmingham– and on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC is not so much about Dave Roberson’s $50 Million lawsuit against Drummond and Balch & Bingham but who is representing Roberson. Burt Newsome. Yes, Burt Newsome the sole-practitioner attorney who allegedly was targeted, wrongly arrested and defamed by Balch & Bingham. Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., one of Balch & Bingham dinosaur partners, who appears to have let the Newsome Conspiracy Case turn into a legal quagmire and shameful embarrassment, has now handed his self-created, artificial, superficial “nemesis” the case of a lifetime that could…
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Anti-Muslim Post Stings Alabama Power
Tens of thousands of social media readers in the past 48 hours have read about the cop son of a now retired Alabama Power executive and the cop’s Anti-Muslim post. The cop, Jeffrey Bowers of the Columbiana, Alabama Police Department, allegedly was involved in a “staged arrest” of Burt Newsome, who was allegedly targeted by Alabama Power’s sister-wife, the embattled law firm Balch and Bingham. Causing outrage is Bowers’ vulgar social media post suggesting Muslims are goat fornicators. The Culture of Hate linked to Alabama Power is stinging the utility and especially Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite, a former Balch partner. And…
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Could a “Staged Arrest” Kill Alabama Power’s White Elephant?
Alabama Power and the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham are called “sister-wives.” Almost a century ago, the brother of Alabama Power’s president started the firm. Mark A. Crosswhite, a former Balch & Bingham partner, is the CEO of Alabama Power, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company, and considered one of the most powerful executives in Alabama. The long-time incestuous, revolving-door relationship may answer the question: How did the son of a long-time Alabama Power executive (now retired) get involved in an alleged “staged arrest” of one of Balch & Bingham’s most-successful competitors? With a civil RICO lawsuit to be…
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More Clients Flee Balch & Bingham; JeffCo Sheriff’s Office Terminates Balch
According to Politico.com, Balch & Bingham has been terminated by two lobbying clients in D.C. this past week. H.H. Technologies out of Cullman County dumped the firm Tuesday, according to Politico. A smaller client, H.H. paid Balch $50,000 in 2012 and 2013 according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But more damaging, the Jefferson County, Alabama Sheriff’s Office gave Balch the boot, too, after paying the firm over $1 million since 2005. Balch & Bingham had a close relationship with Sheriff Mike Hale who lost in the election last November. Hale was funded by Balch affiliated entities and clients. As…
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“Double Standard” Makes Balch Stooge Look Like a Sheer Hypocrite
In a new filing with the Alabama Supreme Court, the Queen of the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber and one of Balch & Bingham’s top stooges, Judge Carole Smitherman comes out looking like a sheer hypocrite. In March, we outlined how JeffCo and the Alabama Supreme Court were trying to screw over Burt Newsome with demands for the compilation of Smitherman’s court records of the Newsome Conspiracy Case within a week, something Newsome has no control over. The obligation actually rests on the JeffCo Circuit Court Clerk. The one-week demand came only hours after we wrote a critical piece about…
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Alabama Power Overheats on Ronnlund Connection
Our sources at Southern Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Alabama Power tell us that Robert Ronnlund, the attorney accused of engaging in alleged obstruction of justice and the alteration of evidence in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, caused a flurry of activity at the utility yesterday afternoon. Ronnlund’s wife, Millicent, serves as General Counsel of Southern Nuclear, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company. Before joining Southern Nuclear in late 2017, Millicent Ronnlund was a partner at Balch & Bingham. When our sources told us Ronnlund was of gravest concern, we were scratching our heads, asking, “Why?” The answer, unknown to us at first,…
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Who will Go: Balch or Crosswhite?
What kind of utility company allows a vendor to violate a structured code of conduct and abuse their inter-connected relationships by allegedly engaging in a “staged arrest?” With Wall Street analysts and institutional investors being briefed this week, the aftermath of the link of Alabama Power to the Newsome Conspiracy Case and a coming civil RICO lawsuit, the question everyone is asking is who will go: Balch & Bingham or Mark Crosswhite? Crosswhite, who serves as CEO of Alabama Power and one of the most powerful business players in Alabama, (and who has shown brilliant leadership in the past) may…
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Shock: Newsome Conspiracy Cop is Son of Respected Alabama Power Executive
A Columbiana, Alabama police officer who pulled Burt Newsome over in May of 2013 in an alleged “staged arrest” was none other than Jeffrey Bowers, the son of Willard L. Bowers, the retired, long-time executive at Alabama Power (pictured left) who last served as Vice President of Environmental Affairs for the utility. Was this “staged arrest” done for the benefit of embattled law firm Balch & Bingham? Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham are called “sister-wives.” Almost a century ago, the brother of Alabama Power’s president started the firm. Mark A. Crosswhite, a former Balch & Bingham partner, is currently…
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Smitherman’s Spring Break Fever
Balch & Bingham stooge Judge Carole Smitherman may take a few days off for Spring Break reflecting on the worst week she has had in her career. What kind of idiot signs her name to an order that simply adds explosive fuel to a civil RICO lawsuit? Previously, we had shown over $30,000 in questionable contributions to Smitherman and her husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman that appear to have been possibly used to influence the horrendous decisions made in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. The over $30,000 came from entities or individuals affiliated with the alleged co-conspirators or Balch, including $2,000…
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Did Judge Smitherman Sign Her Own Arrest Warrant?
The sheer stupidity of Balch & Bingham stooge Judge Carole Smitherman signing an illegal order last Friday giving a bogus “extension” of time to the JeffCo clerk to compile the record of the Newsome Conspiracy Case for the Alabama Supreme Court has sent shock waves throughout the state. Also under fire is the Alabama Supreme Court, which only hours after we posted a critical report about Alabama Supreme Court Justice and former Balch partner Will Sellers had their clerk threatened to dismiss Newsome’s two appeals if the record was not submitted in seven days. Undisputed fact: Newsome is not responsible…
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Smoking Gun: Smitherman Signs Illegal Order Showing Her Hands Are in the Corrupt Cookie Jar
Last week, we questioned if Balch stooge Judge Carole Smitherman was behind the ridiculous stalling by JeffCo’s Clerk who never compiled the record on appeal of the Newsome Conspiracy Case for the Alabama Supreme Court in 30 days. The clerk of the Alabama Supreme Court threatened last week to dismiss both of Newsome’s appeals if the compiled record was not submitted in seven days. (The appeals were filed in December and the records should have been submitted in January.) The threat came only hours after we reported about Supreme Court Justice Will Sellers alleged misconduct. Sellers was a Balch & Bingham…
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Andy2K’s Ugly Law Firm Divorce Finalized
As we wrote in January, the illustrious Andrew “Andy2K” Campbell, the lead counsel for Balch & Bingham in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, appeared to have settled his ugly divorce from his former law partners in December. His former partners and owners at the old firm had alleged that Andy2K “failed to comply with operating agreements…failed to distribute funds due and … further failed to provide an accounting thereof,” according to a lawsuit filed against Andy2K in August. Andy2K was the manager of two LLCs affiliated with the old law firm, but according to the suit, he was“in the process of being…
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JeffCo and Alabama Supreme Court Add Explosive Fuel to RICO Suit; Balch Hits Panic Button
Just hours after we posted our report yesterday about the alleged misconduct by Alabama Supreme Court Justice William B. Sellers, a former Balch & Bingham partner, the Supreme Court issued an order declaring that both of Burt Newsome’s appeals would be dismissed in seven days because of a deficiency in not obtaining the court records from the Star Chamber. And whose fault is that? The appeals clerk of Jefferson County who is required to compile the record and send it down to Montgomery. The clerk had 30 days to do so. Both Newsome appeals (one against the retaliatory summary judgment;…
