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Where is the Civil RICO Suit? It’s Coming.
One year ago today, we reported that a massive civil RICO lawsuit against Balch & Bingham on behalf of Burt Newsome was in the works and probably coming in early 2019. So where is the civil RICO suit? Why has it not been filed yet? According to our sources, a leading RICO expert from the upper Midwest joined Newsome’s legal RICO team early this year and had advised the team to “exhaust all state remedies” before proceeding in federal courts. Now awaiting the Alabama Supreme Court decision on Newsome’s appeal, we are told the legal RICO team is ready to…
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Balch, Drummond Humiliation: Roberson Sells Home; Estate Sale Next
The Robersons are losing everything and they are part of the trail of carcasses and human waste that Balch & Bingham appears to consistently leave behind. Brian Hamilton, a bank executive, told the truth in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Balch allegedly put the squeeze. Hamilton lost his job; lost the family home. Dave Roberson, a Drummond executive, took Balch’s legal advice as the truth in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal. After vowing to support him, Drummond hypocritically squeezed Roberson out. Roberson lost his job; now he is losing the family home. Next up: Roberson’s estate sale. What humiliation! For Balch,…
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Has Balch & Bingham Become a Career Killer?
Balch & Bingham, the once-prestigious silk-stocking law firm appears to have become a career killer. Look at some of the victims: Drummond Company CEO Mike Tracy gone. Ex-Balch partner Jeffrey H. Wood shown the door at DOJ. Ex-Drummond executive Dave Roberson fired. Oliver Robinson sent to federal prison. Ex-Balch client Black Hall Aerospace facing federal probes. Ex-Balch stooge Trey Glenn of EPA forced to resign. Balch crony and U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired. Balch stooge Luther Strange loses U.S. Senate seat. As the carcasses stack up, some Balch & Bingham partners have wisely dumped the firm for greener pastures.…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Counterfeit Order, Judicial Fraud Rocks Balch & Bingham
[Update: Counterfeit Order Divided Alabama Supreme Court] Is this just all a bad dream? Just when one thinks Balch & Bingham will retreat back from the ledge of corporate suicide, another bombshell lands that shows sheer stupidity and unequivocal corruption of the Alabama judicial system. Burt Newsome, the attorney who allegedly was wrongly targeted, falsely arrested, and defamed by Balch & Bingham and other co-conspirators has filed a 100-page appellate brief with the Alabama Supreme Court, and it is a devastating indictment of the Keystone Cops at Balch & Bingham. The cornerstone of all defendants’ legal arguments, the 44 retaliatory…
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Balch & Bingham Unwittingly Creates a National Star: Keisha Brown
Keisha Brown, a Birmingham mother, is “one of the go-to resident activists, quoted in countless news stories, a kind of environmental injustice spokesperson.”—Equal Voice News Although Balch & Bingham let go of their only female African-American attorney in Birmingham last spring, Balch & Bingham, through the criminal and unsavory conduct of their convicted ex-partner Joel I. Gilbert, unwittingly created a national star: Keisha Brown. Keisha Brown is a long-time African-American resident of North Birmingham who we, the CDLU, met almost two-years ago on visits to Harriman Park. We vowed to her that we would bring the spotlight on the plight…
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Alabama Power’s Secret Deal Under Review
Earlier this month we reported how Alabama Power’s CEO Mark Crosswhite could possibly be under scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Justice. Now we, the CDLU, are taking it a step further. We are asking the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice and the House Judiciary Committee to review the alleged secret deal that prevented federal prosecutors from calling anyone from Alabama Power in the North Birmingham Bribery Trial last year. Alabama Power donated $30,000 to the corrupt AstroTurf entity Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) that laundered money to bought-and-paid for politician Oliver Robinson. Yet Alabama Power was…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Is Alabama Power’s Crosswhite in the DOJ Cross-hairs?
In Alabama, the plantation mentality wants everyone to stay in their place and to accept the injustice or unsavory conduct—quietly. Even if you are a success story and not from the gentry class, the people with the plantation mentality won’t accept you, especially if you are African-American. If ex-Drummond Vice President of Government Affairs David Roberson sings to the feds, who will be hurt the most in this evolving Greek tragedy? Alabama Power. And who would be in the DOJ’s cross-hairs? Most likely Mark Crosswhite, the current CEO of Alabama Power and a former long-time Balch & Bingham partner. In…
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Sharper Focus on Alabama Power
[Yesterday, our Monday traffic broke a year-high record as readers read our post about the Scary Canary and allegations of bribes for official acts on government letterhead.The post below was originally published on November 26, 2018 and focused on Southern Company. Now that CEO Tom Fanning has brilliantly distanced Southern Company from Balch & Bingham, the same questions arise about their wholly-owned subsidiary, Alabama Power and its CEO Mark Crosswhite. Changes to the post are in purple.] When we, the CDLU, took on the powerful hospital sector for price gouging uninsured families, some hospitals arrogantly called us irrelevant, unknown, unimportant.…
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Scary Canary! Panic as Roberson–the Missing Link– Considers Singing to Feds
Our sources in Washington, D.C. tell us there has been panic since our post a week ago about ex-Drummond executive Dave Roberson who is now considering singing like a canary to federal investigators. Venable, the prestigious law firm out of Baltimore, that tried unsuccessfully to prevent the indictments of Balch & Bingham partners Steven McKinney and Joel I.Gilbert, is now out and about, hot on the trail. Our sources could not tell us who has contracted them (Balch? Drummond?). Our website traffic confirms the sheer depth of the panic: we had record traffic on Monday and Tuesday of last week,…
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Drummond, Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Roberson Preparing to Sing like a Canary
Facing 30 months in federal prison, bankruptcy, the loss of the family home, and the insurmountable emotional toll he and his family have suffered, ex-Drummond Commpany executive Dave Roberson is prepared to talk with federal prosecutors about the intricate details of the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme. Roberson never testified in his criminal trial and has never told anyone outside legal counsel about the meticulous and unsettling details. Just a few months back, Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company were not concerned because Roberson’s criminal lawyers were paid by Drummond and Balch’s grip on Jefferson County including federal probes was solid.…
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Will Crosswhite Reform Balch & Bingham?
[This post originally appeared on October 29, 2018. Now that Drummond and Balch & Bingham are in the midst of a $50 million lawsuit that could expose the ugly truth, will Crosswhite lead or not?] When Mark Crosswhite, the CEO of Alabama Power withdrew from the Business Council of Alabama (BCA) early this past summer, creating headlines, he wrote: “[W]e have become concerned that membership in BCA has become a liability rather than a benefit….To be candid, BCA has needlessly alienated federal and state officials, failed to communicate with its own members, squandered our collective corporate goodwill, allowed its financial…
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Balch & Bingham’s “Owed No Duty” Goes Contrary to Southern Company’s Values
Southern Company has released its annual corporate responsibility report and they list their values including: Unquestionable Trust Honesty, respect, fairness and integrity drive our behavior. We keep our promises, and ethical behavior is our standard. As we approach more publicly-traded companies about the controversies surrounding Balch & Bingham, Balch’s alleged dishonesty, disrespect, unfairness, and lack of integrity are garnering attention, especially now that Balch has declared in court filings that Balch “owed no duty” to Dave Roberson, the ex-Drummond Company executive who was lied to repeatedly by Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert. Balch’s owing no duty exemplifies the arrogance of…
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Southern Company and Balch’s Third-Party Risk
[This post was originally published last year on April 30, 2018. Today is the annual shareholders meeting of Southern Company. With a federal probe emanating from Mississippi, cost overruns at a nuclear power plant in Georgia, and Balch & Bingham’s alleged shenanigans in Alabama, Southern Company has many issues to confront; however, CEO Tom Fanning in the past year has quietly distanced the company from Balch, while hiring some of the best talent from the embattled law firm.] Institutional investors and Wall Street analysts are keenly aware of third-party risks and the ability of major corporations to manage them. Right…
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Update: Two Balch & Bingham Women, Two Races, Two Outcomes
The two Balch & Bingham female attorneys assigned as lead attorneys to the Newsome Conspiracy Case that left in the last month appear to have had different outcomes. According to our sources at Alabama Power, Katie C. Hill has joined Southern Nuclear as the Director of Compliance and Concerns. She will work most likely under Millicent Ronnlund, General Counsel for Southern Nuclear and a former Balch & Bingham partner whose husband, Robert M. Ronnlund, is a key figure in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Robert M. Ronnlund appears to have engaged in alleged criminal obstruction of justice and alleged altering of…
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Third Party Risk and “Balch Owed No Duty”
In a week, one of Balch & Bingham’s top clients, Southern Company (parent of Alabama Power), will be hosting its annual shareholders meeting at Callaway Gardens in Georgia. Southern Company’s CEO Tom Fanning has quietly, but brilliantly, distanced the company from Balch & Bingham. Southern Company has not used Balch for lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. since 2016, and allocated resources to other lobbying firms on Capitol Hill according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Balch & Bingham appears to have become a third-party risk. And now Balch & Bingham has bigger problems on the horizon as the $50 million…
