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Happy New Year! Balch & Bingham Dumped
What a terrible way to start 2020. Balch & Bingham, which tried to rehabilitate their Washington D.C. lobbying practice last November, saw two lobbying clients dump the firm in recent days. According to a January 9th report in Politico.com, Northern Star Generation, one of two major clients left in D.C., terminated the firm. The writing was on the wall. We reported in September that “Northern Star Generation has paid Balch only $30,000 [in 2019], compared to $160,000 [in 2018].” We, the CDLU, had reached out to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), a joint owner of Northern Star Generation, calling…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Untouchable?Crosswhite’s Alleged Secret Deal, Secret Meeting
We learned recently that many of the emails that convicted felon and Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert wrote giving updates on the bribery/AstroTurf scheme in North Birmingham were sent to Alabama Power executives. David Roberson, who was convicted of participating in the bribery scheme, was simply cc’d. (See the exhibit from the criminal trial below.) So was Balch & Bingham’s siamese twin, sister-wife Alabama Power really calling the shots as a major backer of the money laundering entity Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE)? What would be the motive for Alabama Power to be allegedly involved in this corrupt…
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Roberson’s Immunity Deal Tied to Ghost-Written Letters
Balch & Bingham’s behavior at times appears to be low-class. Now Drummond Company appears to have engaged in alleged low-class, if not classless, conduct. One of the most startling facts we learned this year was how convicted ex-Drummond executive David Roberson declined a full immunity deal before the criminal trial. In July, we wrote about this tsunami: In the North Birmingham Bribery Case, Dave Roberson was offered an immunity deal if he had testified against Balch & Bingham, according to insiders. Why didn’t he testify? Why didn’t he take the deal? We now recently learned that the U.S. Attorney’s Office…
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Another Top Balch Attorney Bails
After a devastating $19.5 million verdict loss, Balch & Bingham has suffered another loss. According to E&E News: Karl Moor on Monday [December 2, 2019] joined the Office of Air and Radiation as a deputy assistant administrator, the [ EPA] agency confirmed this morning. Once a staffer in the Reagan administration and on Capitol Hill, Moor has in recent decades fought stricter environmental protections and climate policies in court. In 2016, Moor joined Balch as counsel in the environment and natural resources unit. In his career, he has also participated in litigation against pollution and climate initiatives involving the New…
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Balch Hires 8 All-White Attorneys
Demonstrating again that Balch & Bingham’s leadership in Birmingham is oblivious to their own alleged institutional racism, the embattled firm recently announced the hiring of eight new associates throughout its footprint, including four in Birmingham. All of the new associates are white. Coming on the heels of a $19.5 million verdict loss in Miami, Balch’s attempts to rehabilitate their image appear to have sputtered. Last spring, the firm let go of their only female African-American attorney in the Birmingham office, Kimberly Bell. Bell was one of the lead attorneys representing Balch in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Bell was a member…
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Drummond’s Turkey: Feds Interested in New Allegations
Did Drummond Company really think no one would find out? The bombshell allegations that Drummond allegedly hid money laundering and the hiring of two Balch & Bingham stooges from their former Vice-President of Government Affairs David Roberson has spread like wildfire and now federal authorities out of Washington, D.C. are interested. And we aren’t simply talking about Main Justice. We are talking about law enforcement authorities in regulatory agencies, including mining and the environment. Walking in goose-step with the clowns at Balch & Bingham, former Drummomd CEO Mike Tracy betrayed his close friend Roberson. If the allegations are true, was…
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Drummond Bombshell: More Corruption Tied to North Birmingham Bribery Scandal
Shockingly, Drummond Company allegedly hid the money laundering and hid the secret greasing of Balch stooges from their then-Vice President of Government Affairs, David Roberson. What a bombshell! A new third amended complaint from ex-Drummond Company executive David Roberson sheds new light on internal matters that could provoke more corruption probes of Drummond Company. First up: the targeting of poor Black children with a “coat drive” looks like it was a way to launder more money to convicted felon and bought-and-paid-for politician Oliver Robinson. From the pleading: As part of its public relations campaign to defeat the EPA in North…
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A Perfect Fit? $19.5 Million Verdict Against Balch & Bingham Client
Punishing a “clandestine scheme” to copycat electronic medical records software, a jury in Miami, Florida returned a $19.5 million verdict against a Balch & Bingham client, ZenCharts, LLC according to Law.com A stunning blow, the $19.5 million verdict is another setback for the embattled law firm of Balch & Bingham which has seen indictments, a criminal conviction, and exodus of partners in the past two years. The verdict comes days after the firm appointed a veteran DC insider to help their Washington, D.C. operations. Balch has lost 17 of their major 18 D.C. lobbying clients in the past two years.…
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Russians Try to Scrub Jeff Sessions Ties to Ex-Balch Client, a Russian-linked Aerospace Company
Balch & Bingham’s former client Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. appears to have become radioactive. Just hours after trial balloons were sent out two weeks ago outlining a possible U.S. Senate run by ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, we, the CDLU, received a letter via email on Wednesday, October 30, from a Russia law firm asking us to remove a court document from our website. The court document outlines a bitter 2017 fight between Soviet-born immigrant Oleg Sirbu and the then-corporate management of Black Hall Aerospace, based in Huntsville, Alabama. Later that day, we were alerted by our…
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Could Balch Partners Be On the Hook for Millions?
[This post originally appeared on May 2, 2019. In August, a Counterfeit Order was exposed as an act of judicial fraud, which Balch & Bingham has affirmed was never entered into the State Judicial Information System. The stakes in the Newsome Conspiracy Case have risen even higher as a tell-all documentary is in the works] Eight figures is what it could cost to resolve the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Last year, Balch stooge Judge Carole Smitherman retaliated against Burt Newsome by signing 44 orders against Newsome the day after he appealed her refusal to recuse herself from the case. The 44…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, RICO, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
As Balch Tries to Rehab, Documentary Highlights Alleged “Legacy of Pure Evil”
On Friday, Brian Rell, who served as Congressman Robert Aderholt’s chief of staff for over a decade, jumped over to Balch & Bingham to rehabilitate their operations in Washington, D.C. Due in part to our efforts to educate the public and corporate leaders, Balch has lost 17 of 18 major D.C. lobbying clients and millions in fees. While Balch has hired an experienced and high-caliber Washington-insider, the question is: will major corporations want to be associated with a law firm allegedly engaged in institutional racism and the suppression of African-Americans in North Birmingham? With the criminal appeal hearing of ex-Drummond…
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No Exit Plan as Balch Drags Alabama Power Into the Manure Lagoon
When the Board of Directors of Alabama Power’s parent company, Southern Company, discusses future leadership, Mark A. Crosswhite, the CEO of Alabama Power, will probably be forever associated with the unsavory conduct, foolish antics, and baggage of Balch & Bingham, even though he left the firm years ago. The foolish leadership at Balch & Bingham appear to treat Crosswhite as their subordinate, not as a valued Chief Executive Officer of Alabama Power. Will Crosswhite be crossed-off as a possible successor to Southern Company’s current CEO Thomas A. Fanning? Balch looks like they never have thought about the consequences and detrimental…
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Balch Throws Drummond Under the Bus Again
Mike Tracy was sadly a sucker who drank Balch’s Kool-Aid. Garry Drummond is doing back-flips in his grave. On the eve of the abrupt departure of Drummond Company CEO Mike Tracy who was publicly criticized for cuddling with the embattled law firm, Balch & Bingham has handed the coal company a stinging farewell gift. In a panic over the $50 million civil lawsuit from ex-Drummond executive David Roberson, Balch demanded today that the judge in the case, the Honorable Tamara Johnson, sign a proposed order dismissing Balch from the civil lawsuit. The proposed order is exactly the same as the…
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Another Balch & Bingham Carcass? Black Hall Aerospace Tumbles as Probe Continues
In their 69-page brief before the Alabama Supreme Court in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, embattled law firm Balch & Bingham whines that they were not mentioned in the Report by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, writing: BanBalch.com also stated that BanBalch.com/CDLU.org had been in contact with the Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Balch. The now-public Mueller Report, however, does not mention Balch. Does the foolish leadership at Balch truly believe that we were not in contact with the Office of the Special Counsel because Balch failed at getting an honorable mention in the redacted report? Are these…
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La Paz: Crosswhite and Roberson Bump Into Each Other
Why couldn’t Mark A. Crosswhite, the “most powerful man in Alabama,” bring closure to the matter at hand? A few months ago Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson bumped into each other at La Paz Restaurant in Crestline. Allegedly Crosswhite told Roberson if there was anything he could do, Crosswhite would be happy to help. Roberson took Crosswhite for his word and a few days later dispatched an email to the “most powerful man in Alabama,” allegedly asking Crosswhite to get Balch & Bingham and Drummond to settle the $50 million lawsuit. Roberson never received…
