In less than a week, indicted Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert‘s criminal trial begins. In February, we took Gilbert to task for drafting what appears to be a letter of intimidation to a public charity in 2014 that demanded a list of their financial supporters. The hardball tactic reminded us of the unsavory tactics of segregationists and racists in the 1960s who would demand lists of financial supporters of Civil Rights organizations. Public charities are protected from these tactics. In another alleged racist incident,  Balch & Bingham was allegedly involved in an alleged “whites-only” land grab in Vincent,…

Will the indicted partners at Balch & Bingham risk their lives for the sake of the firm? Do they honestly, truly believe they can beat the criminal charges? Before Steven McKinney and Joel Gilbert were indicted, Washington insiders were allegedly used to try to prevent or block the indictments, even allegedly whispering indirectly into U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ ear. They lost. After a new U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama was confirmed,  Alabamian power-brokers thought he’d toss the possible indictments aside. He didn’t. They lost. On the eve of their indictments, the law firm representing Joel Gilbert attempted…

60 years ago, the horror flick “The Blob” was Steve McQueen’s film debut. The Blob was devouring and dissolving everything in its path in rural Pennsylvania. Now Balch & Bingham’s Blob is devouring the legal system in Alabama. In less than two weeks, a criminal trial against two Balch partners begins. At around the same time, Balch’s secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber will strike 300 days of existence. Balch’s Blob was created with hubris and the foolish need to demonstrate absolute power and control. Although there is a complete blackout regarding the Newsome Conspiracy Case, the case has now gone…

We know about some of the great and honorable partners at Balch & Bingham who truly have been hurt by the alleged unsavory, racist, and criminal conduct by a few bad apples at the firm. In Atlanta, a controversy has exploded over the high legal fees paid to a law firm to investigate a first-class junket to South Africa. And who offered the most ethical, most honorable, most insightful observations on the matter? A Balch & Bingham partner. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports: Mike Bowers, a former Georgia attorney general and partner at Balch & Bingham, said officials were right…

Yesterday, we, the CDLU, received an email from Mark Booz, the Deputy General Counsel of BB&T, a major Southeastern bank based in North Carolina. Balch & Bingham has represented BB&T in the past. He kindly acknowledged receipt of our email dated May 16th and let us know directly that the bank has “conducted a high-level inquiry into your concerns” about Balch. We applaud Mr. Booz and BB&T’s corporate leadership for seriously looking into the matter. In our email to the the corporate leadership at BB&T, we discussed the various scandals, two indictments, and serious allegations surrounding Balch. We wrote, “What…

“Discussing racism and discrimination is not easy, and various people have helped us create a learning experience that we hope will be educational, participatory and make us a better company. We want this to be an open and honest conversation starting with our partners,” wrote Howard Schultz , Executive Chairman of Starbucks, this morning as all Starbucks will shut down this afternoon for corporate discussion and training on bias and racism. Why won’t Tom Fanning, CEO of Southern Company do the same:  have an open and honest conversation about the alleged institutional racism that happened in North Birmingham by their partner:…

In a final 15-page report to Southern Company’s institutional investors and Wall Street analysts sent 24 hours before their annual shareholders meeting, we summarized: Southern Company must immediately suspend its relationship with the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham until the firm conducts a top-to-bottom review of the firm, settles the horrific Newsome Conspiracy Case, and apologizes to the African-American community in North Birmingham. The Newsome Conspiracy Case exemplifies some of the worst legal conduct including alleged criminal obstruction of justice and alleged alteration of evidence. Balch & Bingham’s alleged pattern of behavior in the Newsome case, including the creation…

We now have heard from insiders who believe our work in briefing the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee appears to have indeed spurred the multiple investigations into Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a/ AAL USA, Inc. by the Office of Inspector General of the U .S. Department of Defense, the Military Criminal Investigations Command, and the U.S. Department of Justice. Balch & Bingham had scrubbed their website about the success they had in changing Russian sanctions on behalf of Black Hall Aerospace after we had exposed the fact. In another…

With Southern Company apparently violating its own compliance policy while being engulfed in a grave third-party risk crisis because of their sister-wife relationship with Balch & Bingham (only two weeks before their annual shareholders meeting), we reached out yesterday to two of Balch & Bingham’s most profitable D.C. lobbying clients for 2018: Marathon Petroleum and Northern Star Generation. We outlined the indictment of two Balch partners, the suppression of African-Americans in North Birmingham, the false arrest of Burt Newsome, and other alleged unsavory conduct by the silk-stocking law firm. Similar to our message to other Balch clients last June, we…

[Update: In January of 2020, Stephen Feaga  left the embattled firm. Click here to read more.] When Balch & Bingham announced their first-ever Chief Compliance Officer, Stephen Feaga, we applauded the firm’s decision with high praise and kudos. And we still do. Although Feaga has been quietly working in the background for almost five months, we have spoken to people in the the legal community, law enforcement officials, and esteemed members of the media, and the conclusion is always the same: Feaga is a pillar of integrity. Before he joined Balch, Feaga was the Deputy Director of Enforcement and Litigation…

Politico.com reports that HealthSouth Corporation (now called Encompass Health), the largest rehabilitation services company in the nation, has terminated Balch & Bingham as their DC lobbyists. This is earth-shattering news in Birmingham, as Encompass Health is one of the top companies in the region. The hemorrhaging at Balch continues. Last June, the office of Encompass CEO Mark Tarr asked us to email Patrick Darby, General Counsel at Encompass, and Justin Hunter, Vice-President of Public Policy, immediately and directly. We did. We encouraged them to call on Balch & Bingham to change their alleged unscrupulous and criminal behavior. Today we told…

With the President angered about the raid against his attorney, Michael Cohen, and the U.S. Attorney Office in the Southern District of New York responding to a referral from the Office of the Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, the action sends a clear message to insiders and those who hide behind attorney-client privilege to engage in alleged unsavory if not criminal conduct: you will be investigated regardless of your status or political influence. Balch & Bingham was thrown into similar “hot coals” in September in the Oliver Robinson bribery scheme to allegedly suppress poor African-Americans in North Birmingham from…

The Birmingham Business Journal reports: Balch & Bingham LLP has launched a new blog. Past Due is a consumer finance litigation block and a resource that will provide timely legal developments and insights impacting the consumer credit industry. The blog, www.pastdueblog.com, will monitor changes in case law, regulations and legislation to help companies navigate their compliance, enforcement and litigation issues. Through the blog, Balch attorneys will provide insight regarding the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, and consumer bankruptcy litigation, as well as state and federal Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices acts…

This morning, Balch & Bingham bolstered a happy face in front of all the chaos and alleged institutional racism linked to the once prestigious firm by announcing in a fluffy press release the addition of 7 healthcare attorneys to their Jackson, Mississippi offices who appear to have left another Mississippi law firm, Copeland, Cook, Taylor, & Bush. Trying to counteract the exodus of 10 money-making partners who left in January and the worst financial year on Capitol Hill in 19 years, Balch looks like they are in a state of denial, like a Toys R Us kid. These 7 new…