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Sessions and Sessions
The number of website sessions yesterday was record breaking for us. The interest in the troubles and alleged unsavory conduct of Balch & Bingham has skyrocketed. Thank you for your readership. Now comes the breaking news story of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions undergoing hours of questioning last week by the Office of the Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, according to The New York Times. Interestingly, Mueller’s office called us on the night of January 11, 2018. We briefed them on the latest developments of the key figure in the Russian Sanctions scandal: Balch & Bingham’s former client, Russian-linked…
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Leaving Balch to Serve Clients “Zealously, Ethically, and Honorably”
The exodus continues at Balch & Bingham. As we alluded to this morning, we can confirm: four esteemed litigators at Balch have left the firm to form a new one, according to the Association of Defense Trial Attorneys. The lawyers have made a “commitment to representing clients zealously, ethically, and honorably.” We congratulate Bruce, Spencer, Todd, and Jim! Good luck! Now 11 partners that we know of have left the firm. What will Balch partners at the Atlanta, Jackson, and Jacksonville offices do? Continue to put up with the alleged criminal and unscrupulous shenanigans in Birmingham? The Newsome Conspiracy Case and…
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Unprecedented Interest and Rumblings of Discontent
More Balch & Bingham partners are preparing to leave today, tossing loyalty to the firm overboard. We have received tens of thousands of visitors on our site, and last week was record breaking internet traffic for the week. Even on the days with no new posts, the traffic was off the charts. We now understand possibly why. With the exodus of a half-dozen Balch & Bingham partners and the tumbling of federal lobbying revenue, other law firms (our highest identifiable traffic) may be possibly looking at who they can lure from Balch & Bingham while Balch partners are looking at…
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Millions of Dollars Lost as Balch & Bingham Hemorrhages
[Update: The Center for Responsive Politics has updated their database and now shows 2017 to be the fifth worst year for Balch & Bingham since 1998. Lobbying fees dropped 25% compared to 2016, a loss of over $300,000.] According to the Center for Responsive Politics, 2017 was one of the worst financial years since 1998 for Balch & Bingham’s lobbying team on Capitol Hill; the lowest lobbying revenue in almost two decades. Lobbying fees dropped 36 percent compared to 2016, a difference of more than half a million dollars. In October with two months left in the year, Balch lost…
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Exodus of Balch Partners Rocks Birmingham
The hemorrhaging continues at Balch & Bingham. This afternoon the Birmingham Business Journal broke the story about six new members that have joined the Maynard, Cooper & Gayle law firm. All six are former partners at Balch & Bingham. The exodus of a half-dozen former Balch partners primarily comes from the public finance practice with expertise in healthcare financing and federal tax law. As we wrote on Monday, ruining a rival has become ruining themselves. We knew there were rumblings about partners ready to jump ship after 20-year Balch veteran Wiliam F. Stiers left last November. Although no parting of…
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Being the Best of the Best and not the Worst of the Worst
Yesterday, U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town of the Northern District of Alabama announced that 2017 saw the highest numbers of charges and highest percentage of persons sent to prison, according to a news report on al.com. Tough on violent crime, tough on criminal immigration, tough on the drug trade, Town is also the one prosecuting two Balch & Bingham partners in the Oliver Robinson Bribery Scandal. Town told al.com, “One thing I’m trying to instill is that we are all prosecutors. We’re all engaged in the same mission. We’re one big team working toward common goals and priorities.” He also…
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Will Feaga Cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller?
[Update: In January of 2020, Stephen Feaga left the embattled firm. Click here to read more.] As the more we learn about Balch & Bingham’s new and first-ever Chief Compliance Officer Steve Feaga, the more we like what we hear. We truly wish him the best to save the firm from the year of embarrassing troubles. We recently communicated at length with the office of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and outlined numerous recent developments not only with the Russian-linked aerospace company, Black Hall Aerospace. Inc. a/k/a AAL USA Inc., but even about the coincidental, first-time “contributions” to State…
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Part 4: Money Trail Leads to Balch’s Indicted Partners
[Readers: Please take a look at yesterday’s post. We have added an update.] Now comes the stocking stuffer. On December 26, 2017, Judge Carole Smitherman’s husband Senator Rodger Smitherman reported receiving $2,000 from BIZPAC. A few days before that, he received $500 from VPAC. (Read the campaign finance report here.) BIZPAC is the same political action committee funded in part by Balch partners that donated over $15,000 to Judge Smitherman. Balch’s lead attorney appearing before Judge Smitherman in the Newsome Conspiracy Case is Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. who has donated thousands to BIZPAC in the past. In July, indicted Balch…
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Part 3: Drummond’s Milk for Smitherman?
[Update down below.] As we pointed out last month, Senator Rodger Smitherman, the husband of Judge Carole Smitherman received three contributions from two donors that raises the investigative question: Were donors attempting to influence the judge through her husband, or not? The contributions appear to come at critical times in the Newsome Conspiracy Case that Judge Smitherman is presiding over. Today, we take a look at another contribution: $5,000 donated by BIPAC to Senator Smitherman on November 16, 2017 (Read the documentation here.) Like NEWPAC, the second contribution we profiled, BIPAC is run by Clark D. Fine, a former attorney…
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Balch, the Russians, and Smitherman
It’s back. The website run by the Soviet-born owner of Russian-linked aerospace company AAL USA Inc. a/k/a Black Hall Aerospace Inc. that had been shut down days after a national story appeared in Real Clear Investigations, has been brought back to life three months later. Balch & Bingham used to lobby for the Russian-linked aerospace company and successfully changed Russian sanctions in 2015, but then foolishly scrubbed their website last March after we exposed their links. The home page of aviationintelligence.org is now missing all the aviation certifications from Russia (pictured) and a passionate letter from Oleg Sirbu outlining the…
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A RICO Metamorphosis
The Newsome Conspiracy Case is in complete blackout. As we begin 2018, we have no idea if the case is even in trial or if they have picked a jury yet. But win or lose in the secretive Star Chamber, the Newsome Conspiracy Case could become a serious RICO case in federal court against the co-conspirators and Balch. The RICO Act can be used against respected businesses allegedly engaged in a pattern of specifically identified criminal conduct. RICO is a wide net designed to catch all of the members of a criminal enterprise, including those who ordered, aided or abetted…
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Kudos to and High Praise for Balch & Bingham
A great way to start 2018. On the same day we departed for the holidays, Balch & Bingham quietly announced the appointment of their first-ever Chief Compliance Officer on December 20th. Kudos to Balch’s senior management team. We finally can offer high praise to the firm for taking a big leap forward to correct the unchecked behavior of some partners. In their press release, they wrote, “Balch & Bingham LLP announced today that Steve Feaga, former chief of the Criminal Division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama, will join the firm as its first chief…
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Wolves and Vultures
One of the most interesting contacts we received before Christmas was from a prominent lawyer on the West Coast who is interested in filing a possible RICO action centered on the questionable political contributions made to Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman, the husband of Judge Carole Smitherman who created the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. This esteemed member of the bar filed one of the first RICO actions in the South decades ago, and has an expertise on RICO that is unmatched. In addition, we were approached by other attorneys who were seeking our insight…
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Merry Christmas for the Newsome Children
When we learned about the Newsome Conspiracy Case over a year ago, we were moved by the smiling faces of Burt Newsome’s children. Unfortunately, all the shenanigans, all of the legal maneuvers, the Star Chamber, and the alleged unethical or criminal conduct impact those children more than anyone else. Did Clark A. Cooper, a Balch partner who allegedly wrote to Newsome’s clients directly, an alleged breach of professional conduct, ever think about Newsome’s family? When Judge Carole Smitherman sealed the case since its inception and created an unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber, did Newsome’s children ever enter her mind? Did…
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Part 2: Contributions and the Star Chamber
The cash keeps on coming. On Friday we called on state criminal and ethics investigators to look at a donation made by Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton to Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman. He is the husband of Judge Carole Smitherman who created an unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. The complete sealing of the case was strongly advocated by the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham. Today, we take a look at another curiosity: two $5,000 contributions made by NEWPAC to Senator Smitherman on October 17, 2017 and last month on November 20, 2017. (Read…
