Today marks the one year anniversary when Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., the lead attorney and Balch & Bingham partner in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, lied about us, the CDLU, in a motion to seal all future depositions. Stupidity at its highest, Schuyler demonstrated unequivocally that he did not know us and gave us, an outside party, instant credibility. Since 2001, our organization has spurred three U.S. Congressional hearings, and numerous local, state, and civil rights investigations. We have worked closely with law enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U.S. Treasury Department to…

Robert M. Ronnlund, a Birmingham attorney who appears to have engaged in alleged criminal obstruction of justice in the Burt Newsome Conspiracy Case by dispatching a bogus letter to AT&T, looks like he engaged in additional shenanigans that raise serious if not damning questions about professional conduct. After Newsome was wrongly targeted and falsely arrested, the criminal case against him collapsed and it was dismissed with prejudice. The dismissal and release order clearly states the matter would be dismissed with prejudice as you can see below.   When Ronnlund filed his pleading for his client, the dismissal and release order…

We have written about this document twice before, last summer, and in October, but now the CDLU has learned  from anonymous sources that the letter that Robert Ronnlund dispatched in January of 2016 to AT&T in the Newsome Conspiracy Case could become the catalyst for a possible settlement. We do not know what is going on in the Star Chamber and neither do our anonymous sources, but we understand the letter is the most difficult item to justify, explain, or even dismiss. Ronnlund, whose wife was a Balch partner at the time the letter was written, appears to have engaged…

The hottest post this past month has been one of our first, Unprofessional Conduct? about former Balch partner Clark A. Cooper who was fired on March 3, 2017. He is the alleged mastermind of the horrific Newsome Conspiracy Case, now taking place (or not?) in a secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber. Cooper allegedly hit the send button on an email with Newsome’s mugshot on a Saturday afternoon, hours after Newsome was falsely arrested, allegedly defaming Newsome, a father of four young children. So why the hot interest? Looks like Cooper is in the mattress business and now selling mattresses. Who…

Today marks one year since we launched BanBalch.com and what a year! We never thought this project would last this long and evolve into such a quagmire for the once prestigious law firm. As we have told The New York Times and The Washington Post, our advocacy project began with Burt Newsome and will end with Burt Newsome. The North Birmingham/Oliver Robinson bribery scandal, the Vincent whites-only controversy, the Mississippi billing probe, and the Black Hall Aerospace lobbying fiasco landed in our laps as reaffirmations of the alleged unsavory conduct in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. We are not a party…

When we learned about the Newsome Conspiracy Case over a year ago, we were moved by the smiling faces of Burt Newsome’s children. Unfortunately, all the shenanigans, all of the legal maneuvers, the Star Chamber, and the alleged unethical or criminal conduct impact those children more than anyone else. Did Clark A. Cooper, a Balch partner who allegedly wrote to Newsome’s clients directly, an alleged breach of professional conduct, ever think about Newsome’s family? When Judge Carole Smitherman sealed the case since its inception and created an unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber, did Newsome’s children ever enter her mind? Did…

We have some good news today. With the alleged suppression of poor African-Americans in North Birmingham and the creation of a secretive and corrupt Star Chamber to allegedly hide perjury and possible criminal acts in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Balch & Bingham partners need to be investigated and brought to justice for the alleged trampling of Civil Rights. Civil Rights violations have a long history in Alabama and in 2017 the irony is that two African-Americans were allegedly used as tools to do the dirty work: Oliver Robinson and Judge Carole Smitherman. Burt Newsome  was falsely arrested. The night before…

The Newsome case exemplifies a despicable act of injustice, an abuse of the judiciary branch for financial and political gain. We have reached out to federal authorities and have asked them to investigate U.S. Senator Luther Strange’s involvement in alleged corruption and the trampling of the Civil Rights of Burt Newsome, a father of four young children who was wrongly targeted, falsely arrested, and defamed by one of Strange’s most ardent financial and political supporters, the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham. Strange has received tens of thousands of dollars from Balch & Bingham or political action committees funded by…

The letter to AT&T looks like a deliberate and deceptive tactic to impede justice, to hide evidence, and to protect the alleged co-conspirators. As the Newsome Conspiracy Case garners heavier analysis by outside groups, the alleged co-conspirators and their lawyers, including some Balch & Bingham partners,  have apparently become unhinged, as the insidious and eye-popping tricks become exposed. In a five-page letter to Judge Carole Smitherman dated August 8, 2017, Robert M. Ronnlund, an attorney for one of the alleged co-conspirators whines to the Judge about us, a sealed video-deposition, and the negative publicity. Regarding discovery and evidence, Ronnlund wrote,…

Balch & Bingham appears to have now done a 180 degree flip right into a larger manure lagoon. With Balch & Bingham under the scrutiny of two federal investigations (one in Alabama and the other in Mississippi),  will scrutiny now extend to New Jersey? When we wrote to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III on May 18th, besides Balch’s ties to the Russia-linked aerospace company Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a/k/a AAL USA, Inc., we asked him to look at two possible issues arising from the investigation (which Mueller can investigate under his charge). One of them was the case of…

Balch & Bingham appears to be suffering from a loss of control as scandal appears to engulf the  prestigious firm. On Friday July 21st, there was a flurry of activity in the Burt Newsome conspiracy case according to an alert by Alacourt.com. The most interesting document is Balch & Bingham’s motion to amend the protective order from May. As readers may recall, the brilliant and esteemed lawyers at Balch lied about us in that open court filing last May 9th. Appearing to attempt to impose a universal gag order on the media, social media, and the public in general,  the…

While the acting U.S. Attorney in North Alabama makes it a “priority” to investigate an unnamed Balch & Bingham partner in the $360,000 Alabama bribery scandal and the FBI scrutinizes Balch invoices in Mississippi, Balch has decided to slap the wife of the victim of an alleged conspiracy with a subpoena. As we have noted, Burt Newsome was wrongly targeted, falsely arrested, and defamed.  Now his wife, a mother of four young children, is being targeted. Why would Balch want to drag Newsome’s wife into their manure lagoon? Have they lost their minds? Because of us: the CDLU.  Our organization…

Does Balch  & Bingham really think defendants would be talking to a telemarketer near or after midnight or at 1 in the morning? In one of the most absurd and ridiculous comments made at a court hearing in the Burt Newsome case, lawyers from Balch & Bingham suggested the single phone number that connects all the co-conspirators in the alleged conspiracy to target, arrest, and defame Burt Newsome was in fact from telemarketers. For heaven’s sake, some of these calls were for 18 or 19 minutes! Do we really think Balch’s partner was purchasing a set of non-stick frying pans…