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Balch’s Behavior Open to New Scrutiny in Roberson Suit
The $50 million civil lawsuit against Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company by Dave Roberson may open Balch’s internal behavior to new scrutiny. The Washington Post reported yesterday: The Balch billing department balked at instructions from [convicted felon and now ex-Balch partner Joel I.] Gilbert to scrub the Oliver Robinson Foundation’s name from certain invoices and list work as “community outreach” instead of consulting. “I’m not sure why we cloak the reference in our invoice,” chief operating officer David Miceli wrote in a Sept. 22, 2015, email. “You ever hear anything from Joel on this?” he asked in a later…
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The Washington Post: Drummond Company and Balch Sued for $50 Million by “Fall Guy” Dave Roberson
Breaking News: The Washington Post reports how Drummond Company Executive Dave Roberson was thrown over the side of the bridge by Drummond Company. Is Drummond more loyal now to Balch & Bingham than their employees? From today’s breaking news story: Drummond initially stuck by Roberson, its executive. “While we respect the judicial process, we consider David to be a man of integrity who would not knowingly engage in wrongdoing,” the company said in a statement when he was convicted. Then in February, Roberson was summoned to a meeting with the company’s CEO and chief legal officer. Roberson, who earned $300,000…
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AG Barr Shows Balch Crony the Door; Southern Company to the Rescue
Ex-Balch & Bingham partner Jeffrey H. Wood, one of President Donald J. Trump’s first nominees to the U.S. Department of Justice after he was inaugurated as President, appears to have been shown the door by U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr, according to our sources. Only days after the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal broke headlines, we, the CDLU, successfully blocked Wood’s nomination in May of 2017 by reaching out to the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. We wrote to the committee at the time: Anyone involved in an alleged conspiracy to suppress African-Americans is unfit to serve in the…
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Balch’s Doomsday Machine: Third-Party Risk
[This post originally appeared on May 10, 2018 before ex-Balch & Bingham partner and convicted felon Joel I. Gilbert was found guilty on all six criminal counts in July, including bribery and money laundering. Now that Balch has lost 17 of their 18 original lobbying clients in Washington, DC, no client, none, will be able say they did not know that they were using a law firm whose reputation was allegedly in tatters or in the midst of being named in a civil RICO suit. Balch associates may be wondering, for whom the bell tolls?] In October, days after two…
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FBI: Ex-Balch Partner Gilbert “Will be Serving Time”
Even though many in the legal community in Alabama are currently focused on the Donald Watkins trial, the conviction and five-year sentence of ex-Balch & Bingham partner and ghost-writer extraordinaire Joel I. Gilbert have not gone away. In an extraordinary news post last week on the FBI website, the FBI wrote about the North Birmingham public corruption trial. In the lede, the FBI bluntly wrote: An Alabama legislator who was bribed by a corporation to represent the company’s interests—instead of his constituents’—is now serving prison time, and the two men who paid him will be serving time as well. Why…
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Institutional Racism and Balch
[This post originally was published on February 5, 2018. All updates are in purple.] Charles Cole lived in the North Birmingham community of Harriman Park until 1959 after he was brutally beaten by racist Birmingham cops. He saved up his money and immediately moved to Michigan to escape the horrors of segregation. After retiring, he and his wife moved back to Harriman Park ten years ago to be close to family. The racist cops are gone; segregation is gone; but institutional racism continues. Balch & Bingham partners allegedly masterminded a $360,000 bribery scheme to suppress, discourage, and disenfranchise African-Americans from…
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Prosecutorial Misconduct Against Balch Stooges?
Last week, we wrote that we smelled “selective and vindictive” prosecution of indicted Balch stooges Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips. Yesterday, Alabama Political Reporter confirmed discrepancies that appear to confirm allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. Bill Britt reported that former Jefferson County District Attorney Mike Anderton had never asked the Alabama Ethics Commission to help him bring the criminal case against Glenn and Phillips. In fact, the truth is the opposite. Britt writes: According to Anderton, in the fall of 2018, Ethics Commission General Counsel Cynthia Propst Raulston approached him because “she had a case she wanted to present to the Jefferson County…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Secret Star Chamber, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Balch Stooges Taste “Selective and Vindictive” Judicial System
Although we believe that the conduct by Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal was reprehensible, we smell “selective and vindictive” prosecution of the Balch stooges. As the attorneys for Trey Glenn wrote in a filing on Monday: By failing to follow the Legislature’s clear directives in the Ethics Act, the [Ethics Commission] Staff acted without legal authority, and no source of legal authority inside or outside of the Act can cure that deficiency. To be sure, the Ethics Act does allow district attorneys and the Attorney General to initiate investigations and prosecutions into alleged violations…
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Maynard Cooper Big Winner as Balch & Bingham Loses Millions
Of the 17 of 18 lobbying clients that Balch & Bingham lost in Washington, D.C., four top clients leaped to rival law firm Maynard, Cooper & Gale, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. From Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin to Quantum Research International, Balch saw a serious exodus of clients. Between 2015 and 2017, Balch made over $3 million in lobbying fees from these ex-clients, averaging $1 million a year. In 2018, Balch’s ex-clients generated almost $2 million in lobbying fees to their new lead lobbying firms. Maynard Cooper took in $820,000 or over 40 percent of the fees. The…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Balch’s Worst Year Ever
What was Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., a Balch & Bingham senior partner, thinking when he lied about us, the CDLU, in a court pleading in May of 2017 regarding the Newsome Conspiracy Case? Did Schuyler really think his foolish and absent-minded scorched-earth fight would intimidate us? Our phone calls, emails, letters, and outreach efforts to discourage companies from utilizing Balch & Bingham for lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. has been a stunning success. 17 of 18 major clients since 2017 have dumped Balch & Bingham as their lobbyists on Capitol Hill, according to data provided from the Center for Responsive…
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All-White New Partners Shake Legal World
The New York Times ran a story on Sunday about the large law firm Paul, Weiss’ new partner class, writing: The post appeared on LinkedIn in early December: Paul, Weiss, one of the country’s most prominent and profitable law firms, said it was “pleased to announce” its new partner class. In the image, 12 lawyers looked out at the world, grinning. What followed, however, was nothing to smile about. In short order, people across the industry began to comment that all of the faces were white, and only one was a woman’s. Looking at Balch & Bingham’s proud announcement this…
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Balch’s Misdeeds Will Rock Washington, D.C. in 2019
Stan Blanton, Managing Partner of Balch & Bingham, may have thought the worst was over in 2018. If he did, he is dead wrong. The new leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives is more than interested in the economic racism and environmental injustice that happened in North Birmingham. And so is the national media. A major exposé will be coming out soon on Balch & Bingham; convicted felon and Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert; and Balch stooges Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips. Jeffrey H. Wood, the Balch lobbyist who was named Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Environment…
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Newsome Appeals Balch’s Summary Judgment
Over $30,000 in campaign cash to Judge Carole Smitherman and her husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman since July of 2017 has paid off handsomely. Apparently kowtowing to Balch & Bingham, Judge Smitherman, as expected, affirmed a summary judgment against Burt Newsome in the Newsome Conspiracy Case currently taking place in a secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber, according to an appeal filed by Burt Newsome. Last month, the appeal was filed against Judge Smitherman’s bias and retaliatory decision with the Alabama Supreme Court. Reviewing the 44 retaliatory and sloppy orders signed by Smitherman attached to the Writ of Mandamus last June,…
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Black Politico Behind Bars while White Felons are Free
Alabama is said to be a place where African-Americans are routinely treated worse than their white counter-parts. No one dare say the misconduct in North Birmingham was racist even though the neighborhood is 92.5 percent African-American. The bought-and-paid-for African-American politician Oliver Robinson is now behind bars in Oklahoma City and won’t be released until April of 2021. Yet, his two white co-conspirators, convicted felons Dave Roberson and Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert, are out, free, while an appeal is pending. The appeal will take at least a year and will focus on the issue if the “official acts” committed by…
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Year-End Update: North Birmingham Bribery Scandal
Next year will have more theatrics as the two indicted Balch & Bingham stooges Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips go to trial for alleged ethics violations in relationship to the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal. National media, as we write, are taking a deeper, investigative look at Balch & Bingham and the alleged manipulation of oversight agencies and politicians who blindly signed ghost-written letters by convicted felon Joel I. Gilbert. North Birmingham, with a population that is 92.5 percent African-American, may become the poster-child of environmental injustice and economic racism for the new leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives that…
