Balch & Bingham has lost most of their lobbying clients in Washington, D.C. and at least a dozen money-making attorneys or partners have left the firm. President Donald J. Trump has recently again shown anger and frustration towards U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for having recused himself from the Russian collusion probe on March 2, 2017. Now Politico.com reports that “once-loyal Alabama delegation gives Sessions the cold shoulder.” How could this be? The conviction of Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert who reviewed and edited then-U.S. Senator Sessions’ official letter to the EPA could be a top reason. Gilbert,…

Last week, U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (pictured) was ripped by his opponent for having accepted donations from embattled law firm Balch & Bingham WHNT reports: [Peter] Joffrion is calling on Brooks to return certain campaign donations he says are associated with convicted felons. Joffrion is pointing out that Political Action Committees connected to both Roberson and Gilbert’s former employers have donated to Brooks campaign. Congressman Brooks responded: It is outrageous and callous that Peter Joffrion besmirches the good reputation of Balch & Bingham and its 500+ employees…based on the mistakes of two bad apples. Good reputation? Only two bad apples?…

Balch’s competitors appear to be salivating with each sweet morsel of Balch’s misfortune and missteps. Nineteen months ago, when you needed to fight, defend, or move a legal matter regarding the environment or energy in the Southeast, Balch & Bingham was the prestigious, go-to law firm. Balch’s touch was like King Midas, everything turned into gold. Balch’s web of influence in the legal and political system, all the way to the Governor’s office and the justices on the Alabama Supreme Court, was unprecedented. But now the criminal conviction of their equity partner Joel I. Gilbert, the exposure of the repugnant…

Last January, an exodus of 10 money-making partners left embattled law firm Balch & Bingham. Yesterday, the beginning of a second exodus of attorneys at Balch began. Birmingham Business Journal reports: Jeremiah Glassford was hired as senior client executive in the national energy construction practice at EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm with revenues greater than $400 million and 50 offices across the U.S. Glassford has previous experience with insurance as part of his former practice at Balch where he was a commercial litigator. This is the first…

Who do Balch & Bingham think they are to make these unsolicited demands? The Gods of Montgomery? The shadow government of Alabama? Unbelievable! Balch & Bingham’s legal counsel, Andrew “Andy2K” Campbell, has filed yet another unsolicited response with the Alabama Supreme Court against Burt Newsome’s Writ of Mandamus. The Writ asks for the immediate recusal of the Queen of the Star Chamber, Judge Carole Smitherman and the striking of all her orders in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Smitherman, who accepted a $2,000 campaign contribution from Andy2K in February, has demonstrated unrestrained judicial bias against Newsome. But in this filing, instead of…

Minutes after the guilty verdicts were handed down, we, the CDLU, wrote to Tom Fanning, the CEO of Southern Company and his General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer Jim Kerr: “Time for us to talk again…and straighten out this mess for the good of Southern Company, for the good of OUR community.” Southern Company and its subsidiaries are one of Balch’s largest clients. The CDLU will embark on an aggressive community effort to force Balch clients, especially heavily regulated businesses, to immediate suspend all legal and transaction services with Balch & Bingham whose equity partner Joel I. Gilbert was found…

[This post was originally published on February 8, 2018. Today with the conviction of Balch & Bingham  partner Joel I. Gilbert on all 6 counts, this message is more important than ever. Changes from the original post are made in purple font.] There are many professional, ethical, and outstanding professionals working at Balch & Bingham and we applaud you. We, the CDLU, are not against Balch & Bingham; we are against racism, discrimination, and unscrupulous if not criminal behavior. We seek to promote inherent goodness, and expose unconscionable corporate conduct and inept government behavior. Two Balch & Bingham partners were…

At the start of this criminal trial, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Senator Richard Shelby were touted as witnesses for the defense. Both gave it a pass. Even State Senator Rodger Smitherman, a key figure in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, was listed as a defense witness. But after the bombshell report of him sitting in on sealed Star Chamber hearings, looks like he, too, gave it a pass. Politicians are distancing themselves and the undercurrent of displeasure at Balch appears to be growing. These last four weeks, we saw more traffic on our site than we do in…

Last Thursday, when the CDLU walked by Steven McKinney at the federal courthouse during a break, he was beaming, happy. And we are sure today he is elated. Joel I. Gilbert is probably at home with stomach butterflies, stress, and anxiety as judgment day approaches. If indicted Balch & Bingham partner Gilbert is found guilty this week, what could happen next? Several controversial matters could be revived for scrutiny including the Newsome Conspiracy Case and the alleged Vincent “Whites-Only” Land Grab. Although Balch & Bingham could attempt to label Gilbert a rogue attorney, Clark A. Cooper’s alleged unsavory behavior (and…

[Update: This post was originally published on July 9, 2018. We have since learned  that Burt Newsome has filed a response to Balch’s unsolicited response to Newsome’s Writ of Mandamus. His 8-page filing to the Alabama Supreme Court can be found by clicking here. Newsome discusses and reaffirms the troubling issues that Balch’s attorney failed to address.] We knew some egomaniacs at Balch & Bingham were stupid, but really, lying to the Alabama Supreme Court about us, the CDLU, a non-party, independent advocacy group about our coverage, our blog? Has the leadership team at Balch sincerely lost their minds? In an…

What will they do? Yesterday’s testimony from two Balch & Bingham  attorneys, one who no longer works for the firm, has caused an enormous stink at Balch, our sources allege. Is the oligarch leadership at Balch in Birmingham out of touch with their colleagues in other states? Are egos overshadowing common sense and the survival of the firm? Both junior attorneys from the Birmingham office testified that even though they were intricately involved in the North Birmingham effort to fight the EPA, including one of them writing a resolution for the Alabama state legislature, both of them were kept in the…

Josh Moon of the Alabama Political Reporter slammed Balch & Bingham head on: Here’s what we know for certain: The Balch & Bingham law firm was producing documents on behalf of half the elected people in Alabama, and all of those documents were fighting the evil EPA, which had the gall to want to come into Alabama and stop poor black people from dying from pollution cancer. I’m not exaggerating this. We know these things to be true. We know it because most of our elected officials are idiots, and because Balch was producing so many pre-written letters it made…

Our sources at Balch & Bingham tell us that Balch this morning has been searching and reading through our blog posts for hours now. We also learned that last Sunday evening a Balch partner was in the office in Biringham allegedly reviewing our news posts about the criminal trial and Star Chamber. Sunday night overtime to read a blog or is there more to the story? While Gilbert and McKinney may be convicted, Balch can easily fire them and hire new associates. The bigger concern we are told is the Newsome Conspiracy Case in which Balch allegedly tried to squash a…

[Update: In January of 2020, Stephen Feaga  left the embattled firm. Click here to read more.] We were extremely pleased when Balch & Bingham announced six months ago the appointment of their first-ever Chief Compliance Officer, Stephen Feaga. We respect him and believe he is a pillar of integrity. But six months in, we ask, was it all window dressing? Our involvement began with the Burt Newsome Conspiracy Case. The case sits in a secretive, unconstitutional, and criminal Star Chamber for almost 300 days now. This case should have been settled over a year ago when former partner Clark A.…