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 peak of two federal investigations.

There are many honorable and respected partners at Balch & Bingham (like Christopher Anulewicz and Mike Bowers out of Balch’s Atlanta Office) yet the public is now unaware of their good deeds and superb legal insight because Balch’s current controversies (like the Newsome Conspiracy Case) have overshadowed them.

Although Balch did reach out to us last August, and we, the CDLU, were prepared to bring closure, one of the largest egos at Balch’s Birmingham office unfortunately appears to have ended the discussions abruptly.

Now, with a national story from The Washington Post and a $50 million lawsuit filed by ex-Drummond executive Dave Roberson, Balch needs to put egos aside.

Losing 17 of 18 lobbying clients in DC, Balch & Bingham can only save itself by putting these controversies behind them.

Balch’s top client, Southern Company and its wholly-owned subsidiary Alabama Power have quietly distanced themselves from Balch because of our advocacy work.

As we told Balch & Bingham in our initial email in January of 2017, that we “have heard many good things about your firm and understand that this appears to maybe involve only a few spoiled apples.”

We believe in inherent goodness, and Balch & Bingham must put the “few spoiled apples” behind them, now, today, this very moment.

And how do they do that?

• Settle the Newsome Conspiracy Case.
• Apologize to the North Birmingham African-American community for Joel I. Gilbert’s conduct.
• Resolve the matters related to North Birmingham.

If the egos and current leadership in Balch’s Birmingham office refuse, then other Balch partners need to take charge.

If not, Balch needs to start drafting their own obituary.