Rossmiller gets the scoop. The order was evidently handed down Monday. Here is the order setting the 45 day time frame for the Rigsby’s to engage new counsel.
Yallpolitics gets the scoop on Judge Senter’s order compelling Scruggs related discovery in McIntosh.
We’ve added these docs to our legal pages.
Not much chatter about this fairly important turn of events for the Scruggs gentlemen. I would predict Ms. Belle is somewhere writing up some sort of hit piece on Judge Senter now the way she did Judge Acker when things didnt go her way. No matter what side of this thing one is on, people need to play by the rules and lawyers like the Scruggs guys are no exception, no matter how much they try to manipulate the system to their will.
We put it up and we’re glad you stopped in to start the chatter Mr Cal. Nowdy is putting together a post for tomorrow. It was a decision we all expected.
I’ll note in addition to people, lawyers and Dickie Scruggs insurance companies also need to play by the rules. Scruggs would not have been possible without them screwing their policyholder here post Katrina.
This litigation is not going away Mr Cal. Scruggs is fading from view and value as the panacia to cover bad behavior by State Farm and others is fading rapidly.
sop
I think we all agree everyone needs to play by the rules – whether you agree that includes Judge Senter or not, my post is up.
Naturally, all this happened on an afternoon when I had too many other responsibilities to blog.
Cal, you said it best, “lawyers like the Scruggs guys are no exception.” You see, the Missouri lawyers are not Scruggs and they are not like Scruggs either. I still think it is pathetic to hold those guys accountable for allowing the payments to the Rigsbys when the Judge had the issue before him in Court and didn’t do anything about it himself then.
Senter tried to give himself an out, belle, by saying the payment wasn’t addressed in the ethics opinion.
Horsefeathers! There is no question about the ethics there – a lawyer has a duty to treat the client fairly – for example, had Scruggs terminated their contract, he would have been obligated to pay them.
Senter let State Farm sell him on the idea the girls had to work 9-5 or the contract was a sham because they were paid so much money.
Look at the two settlements Scruggs negotiated during the first year of their employment – neither with State Farm. Having experienced adjusters capable of identifying fraud was well worth the money. In fact, the girls were probably underpaid considering their compensation relative to those settlements alone.
Senter also added a new twist saying the Missouri attorneys had to know there were cases in the data dump that would be qui tam as well as Scruggs policy holder claims.
Horsefeathers on that one too – for one thing, the qui tam attorneys couldn’t look at the information from the data dump while the case was under seal. Secondly, Judge Senter erred in not calling in a third party to segregate the cases.
He keeps blaming the qui tam attorneys for his own errors, deciding major issues without due process – exactly the reason the 5th sent back a case where he was both judge and jury.
Plus, I think he’s like a lot of other folks and has misplaced his anger on Scruggs and let that anger blind him to his duty to do justice for all.
All that said, he is only one man and has been given the responsibility for all Katrina cases. I’m sure he is frustrated that no one returned as requested to justify the class – but, then again, he should have ordered it and not allowed a settlement until he ruled.
You are right, Nowdy. He has misplaced his anger on Scruggs and himself and blaming the Missouri Lawyers for what he failed to do. Like you say, with the qui tam suit under seal they couldn’t reveal anything about it. He has been duped by his own blindness and is pissed.