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Balch & Bingham Shoots Itself in the Head
Balch and Bingham’s response to the $50 million lawsuit filed by ex-Drummond executive Dave Robinson is like a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The response appears to be a notice, a blaring notice to all General Counsels who utilize Balch and Bingham legal services: If any Balch and Bingham partner ever provides bad legal advice, lies to you, or is involved in a criminal scheme, it is YOUR fault. Although Balch’s response spends pages upon pages arguing and whining about “statute of limitations,” Balch acknowledges that Roberson’s claims indeed arose from the legal advice Balch provided to Drummond. Balch’s best line from…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Saving Balch & Bingham
When we, the CDLU, started our outreach to Balch & Bingham in January of 2017, never would we have thought that we would end up with one of the most widely read blogs in Alabama or that our posts would have been read by over 1.5 million users on Facebook Trying to serve as a bridge between Burt Newsome and Balch & Bingham, we respected Balch & Bingham as a law firm and thought we could resolve the matter amiably by March or April of 2017. Instead, Balch & Bingham’s leadership foolishly turned this into a scorched-earth fight at the…
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Southern Company Under DOJ Investigation in Mississippi
Breaking News from the Atlanta Journal Constitution: Atlanta-based Southern Company disclosed it is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over a power plant that already has caused the company years of heartburn and billions of dollars. Southern said it learned of the probe by the DOJ’s Civil Division on Monday and that it involved the Kemper County plant owned by the utility’s Mississippi Power subsidiary. Southern, which is also the parent of Georgia Power, reported in a quarterly filing that it could not determine the outcome of the investigation but that it ultimately might prove significant enough to…
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Off With Their Heads!
Like the last days of the Soviet Union, the satellite offices of Balch & Bingham appear to be worried about their future and thinking of independence as The Washington Post exposé has tarnished the brand, the name, the legacy nationally. Jokingly called Balch, Bingham & Bribery in some circles, Balch was at the pinnacle of power two years ago. Now they are a laughing stock. With more national investigative journalists taking a look at Balch, will Balch satellite offices break away? Last year, Steven Greenhut, a former Managing Partner at Balch’s Jacksonville Office left the firm Balch’s offices in Atlanta,…
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Sorry Balch & Bingham, Drummond: The Fat Lady Has Not Sung!
The bombshell from Kyle Whitmire’s column yesterday: The Justice Department could pursue its case further. So far, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay Town, has said only the men convicted already [ex Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert, ex State Rep. Oliver Robinson, and Drummond Executive Dave Roberson] were responsible. Does that change now that one of those men [Dave Roberson] is saying that’s not true? “DOJ and the EPA continue to discuss next steps as it concerns north Birmingham and Tarrant,” Town said when I asked him this week. Dave Roberson has opened a can of…
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Injustice Makes Even Stranger Bedfellows
The talk of Mountain Brook–the elite enclave in Birmingham– and on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC is not so much about Dave Roberson’s $50 Million lawsuit against Drummond and Balch & Bingham but who is representing Roberson. Burt Newsome. Yes, Burt Newsome the sole-practitioner attorney who allegedly was targeted, wrongly arrested and defamed by Balch & Bingham. Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., one of Balch & Bingham dinosaur partners, who appears to have let the Newsome Conspiracy Case turn into a legal quagmire and shameful embarrassment, has now handed his self-created, artificial, superficial “nemesis” the case of a lifetime that could…
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Anti-Muslim Post Stings Alabama Power
Tens of thousands of social media readers in the past 48 hours have read about the cop son of a now retired Alabama Power executive and the cop’s Anti-Muslim post. The cop, Jeffrey Bowers of the Columbiana, Alabama Police Department, allegedly was involved in a “staged arrest” of Burt Newsome, who was allegedly targeted by Alabama Power’s sister-wife, the embattled law firm Balch and Bingham. Causing outrage is Bowers’ vulgar social media post suggesting Muslims are goat fornicators. The Culture of Hate linked to Alabama Power is stinging the utility and especially Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite, a former Balch partner. And…
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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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Could a “Staged Arrest” Kill Alabama Power’s White Elephant?
Alabama Power and the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham are called “sister-wives.” Almost a century ago, the brother of Alabama Power’s president started the firm. Mark A. Crosswhite, a former Balch & Bingham partner, is the CEO of Alabama Power, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company, and considered one of the most powerful executives in Alabama. The long-time incestuous, revolving-door relationship may answer the question: How did the son of a long-time Alabama Power executive (now retired) get involved in an alleged “staged arrest” of one of Balch & Bingham’s most-successful competitors? With a civil RICO lawsuit to be…
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More Clients Flee Balch & Bingham; JeffCo Sheriff’s Office Terminates Balch
According to Politico.com, Balch & Bingham has been terminated by two lobbying clients in D.C. this past week. H.H. Technologies out of Cullman County dumped the firm Tuesday, according to Politico. A smaller client, H.H. paid Balch $50,000 in 2012 and 2013 according to the Center for Responsive Politics. But more damaging, the Jefferson County, Alabama Sheriff’s Office gave Balch the boot, too, after paying the firm over $1 million since 2005. Balch & Bingham had a close relationship with Sheriff Mike Hale who lost in the election last November. Hale was funded by Balch affiliated entities and clients. As…
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Is Alabama Power Ready to Cut the Ropes with Balch?
[This post originally appeared on November 13, 2017. Today, almost a year and a half later, it is more truthful than ever: Mark Crosswhite, Alexia Borden, and Houston Smith need to make their future brighter and end the relationship, no matter how wonderful it was in the past, with Balch & Bingham. Balch & Bingham used to be respected and feared. No more. Even insiders were overheard laughing about Balch and Crosswhite’s troubles at Topgolf recently. ] Demonstrating how toxic Balch & Bingham ‘s reputation has become, the Board of Directors of Alabama Power promoted two former Balch & Bingham…
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“Double Standard” Makes Balch Stooge Look Like a Sheer Hypocrite
In a new filing with the Alabama Supreme Court, the Queen of the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber and one of Balch & Bingham’s top stooges, Judge Carole Smitherman comes out looking like a sheer hypocrite. In March, we outlined how JeffCo and the Alabama Supreme Court were trying to screw over Burt Newsome with demands for the compilation of Smitherman’s court records of the Newsome Conspiracy Case within a week, something Newsome has no control over. The obligation actually rests on the JeffCo Circuit Court Clerk. The one-week demand came only hours after we wrote a critical piece about…
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Alabama Power Overheats on Ronnlund Connection
Our sources at Southern Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Alabama Power tell us that Robert Ronnlund, the attorney accused of engaging in alleged obstruction of justice and the alteration of evidence in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, caused a flurry of activity at the utility yesterday afternoon. Ronnlund’s wife, Millicent, serves as General Counsel of Southern Nuclear, another wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company. Before joining Southern Nuclear in late 2017, Millicent Ronnlund was a partner at Balch & Bingham. When our sources told us Ronnlund was of gravest concern, we were scratching our heads, asking, “Why?” The answer, unknown to us at first,…
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Crosswhite and the Culture of Hate
With Alabama Power’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Crosswhite under fire for his steadfast support of his former employer, the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham, the Culture of Hate surrounding Alabama Power is indeed raising distress and concern inside the utility, according to our sources. Southern Company, Alabama Power’s parent company, has been under intense scrutiny for the billion-dollar cost overruns at the Vogtle Nuclear Plant in Georgia and the Kemper Natural Gas Plant debacle in Mississippi. Now comes Alabama Power and the Culture of Hate: The “staged arrest” of a Balch competitor was done by a cop who is…
