Day: June 3, 2009

SLABBED Daily – June 3

Fatigue.  I am wore out. I am battle scarred.

How many Katrina survivors share the sentiments of outgoing Moss Point Mayor Xavier Bishop? That I don’t know but after reading NPR: Hurrican Fatigue Plagues Mississippi Mayors over at the Y’all Politics blog and following the link to NPR, I’ve given the question some thought.

It’s hard to hold public attention on any issue  and even harder because so much about Katrina sounds like a broken record.  Insurance claims handling is certainly one example – but, who would have ever thought four years after the storm there would be unresolved claims for Katrina damage.

Obviously, I was naive to think all these claims would be resolved long before now; but, I’m reviewing cases with trial dates set well into 2010 and even more still in the early stages of litigation with no date set at all.

Not only are they all starting to sound alike, most of them are!  When I tire of reading slightly different versions of the same complaint, I think about the policyholder plaintiffs and how tired they must be of the struggle to resolve a dispute that should never have happen.

Politz v Nationwide is one of those “should never happened” disputes but it did happen and today her attorney filed a Motion for Review and Objection to the U.S. Magistrate Judge’s Order. Continue reading “SLABBED Daily – June 3”

News from the Louisiana Class Action Front: Prominent Lawyer arrested and charged in drug conspiracy case

This case has a little something for everyone. (h/t Mr. NAAS) The Baton Rouge Advocate tells the story of the arrest of William Hugh Sibley on money laundering and drug conspiracy. Looking at the people he is allegedly hooked up with the implications are stunning.

A Greensburg lawyer involved in several high-profile, class-action lawsuits has been arrested on charges he was part of a multimillion-dollar conspiracy since September 2002 to launder drug money for international cocaine traffickers, federal prosecutors said in court papers.

Federal prosecutors in Houston accuse William Hugh Sibley, 62, of Greensburg, of using bank accounts to hide drug proceeds and of accepting, counting and distributing drug proceeds for the ring that distributed “multi-kilogram” cocaine shipments, court records show.

The ring’s reach extended into Mexico, Venezuela and the United States and is headed by Alejandro Flores-Cacho, who remains at large, federal prosecutors in Houston said…….. Continue reading “News from the Louisiana Class Action Front: Prominent Lawyer arrested and charged in drug conspiracy case”

Merlin: Mississippi Supreme Court Hears Corban Oral Argument Next Week UPDATED 2X

Posted today on the Property Insurance Coverage Law blog and reproduced with permission of Chip Merlin:

Last November, I wrote a post, A Chance For Mississippi Courts To Get It Right, about a very important case that will be argued before the Mississippi Supreme Court next Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at 1:30 p.m. I know many must think that justice sometimes moves at a snail’s pace because six months have passed since I first wrote about the case and we are only arguing the appeal. Corban v USAA is important to Mississippi policyholders, and the arguments can be watched live over the Internet.

Here are some of the Briefs:

Corban raises the most important issues regarding causation and burdens of proof which have been at issue in the Mississippi Katrina cases. Finally, the highest Court in this fair state will hear the issues so important to its citizens. It will be a landmark decision no matter how it is decided.

As additional briefs are added, SLABBED will update this post.