Day: June 4, 2009

Some clear signals the Prez is crossways with Gene Taylor

Not that such doesn’t help Gene Taylor with the local voters, the majority of which are very conservative and part of the 30 percent of the populace who do not care for Obama’s job performance (and never will). So while the new adminsitration didn’t even bother to meet with Gene on his bill to reform the NFIP before he came out against it, here is Mr Prez cuddling up with big insurance so they can have an advance briefing of what he intends to do along the lines of regulatory reform. Reuter’s reporter and Sen Chris Dodd mouthpiece Kevin Drawbaugh has the III talking points well summerized:

Insurance industry reform will be the chief focus of a briefing scheduled for Thursday evening by Obama administration officials to financial industry lobbyists, said sources familiar with the agenda.

Topics possibly open for discussion include a proposal to establish a U.S. insurance regulator. The nation’s more than 6,000 insurers are now regulated largely by state and territorial governments.

The briefing could range further afield, possibly covering other parts of the administration’s financial reform agenda, such as establishing a systemic risk regulator and writing new rules for derivatives markets, the sources said.

The snubs don’t stop there as Michael Newsome reported today in the Sun Herald: Continue reading “Some clear signals the Prez is crossways with Gene Taylor”

Breaking: SEC Charges Subprime King Angelo Mozilo with Civil Fraud

This post is a personal indulgence. Though the Yahoo board is long gone and $30 puts a distant memory I’ll never forget “Quislingman”, Pete Frampton Live, Subprime Usury Scam, and the rest of the gang. I sometimes wonder what ever happened to the bean counter from Jersey who was recommending CFC to his brokerage clients. The difference between Benjamin Graham and that fellow was that Ben could actually spot an undervalued stock. Yahoo! Finance has the A/P story:

The government is charging Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial Corp., and two other company executives with civil fraud.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s case also accuses Mozilo of illegal insider trading, an agency spokesman said Thursday. Continue reading “Breaking: SEC Charges Subprime King Angelo Mozilo with Civil Fraud”

SLABBED Daily – June 4

As promised, more on the pro se plaintiff v anticoncurrent causation (Lexington/AIG) starting with Lexington’s position.

Lexington has a right under the insurance policy to deny payments for damage that was caused by (a) flood water (as defined by the policy) or (b) a combination of flood and wind…In other words, it matters not whether the egg or chicken came first…

The water exclusion and the anti-concurrent clause provisions are valid and enforceable under Mississippi law. See e.g., Tuepker v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co., 507 F. 3d 346 (5th Cir. 2007); Leonard v. Nationwide Mutual Ins. Co., 499 F.3d 419, 428 (5th Cir. 2007).

Consequently, the anti-concurrent cause clause bars any claim, or parts of a claim, that Plaintiff may make regarding wind damage that preceded flood damage or for damage caused by flood or a combination of flood and wind.

Even if the wind first damaged a portion of the home which portion was thereafter flooded, there is still no coverage under the Lexington policy for the flood damaged portion of the home.

Oops, Lexington did not mention the Rooster’s decision! Continue reading “SLABBED Daily – June 4”

The Advocate lends background on Hugh Sibley’s unshareable need

After I published yesterday’s post on the arrest of prominent class action lawyer William H “Hugh” Sibley a reader sent me some court docs from Louisiana’s Eastern District that lent some needed context to why an otherwise highly successful class action lawyer would allegedly become mixed up with Mexican drug runners. The answer is simple – massive debts.  Before I get to David Mitchell’s comprehensive article in today’s Advocate we’ll start with the court docs I was sent yesterday evening and Mr Sibley’s $1.3 million dollar unpaid debt to Harrah’s:

On February 2, 2004, this Court rendered a judgment in favor of Harrah’s and against William Hugh Sibley (“Sibley”) in the amount of $1,357,332.50, plus late fees $203,599.86 together with interest accruing from the date ofjudicial demand until paid, attorney’s fees in the amount of $8,775.92, and all costs of these proceedings, as fully set forth in the record of the captioned matter (the “Judgment”).

Harrah’s desires to re-examine Sibley upon all matters pertaining to assets and liabilities, estate or property, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 69(a) and La. Code ofCiv. Proc. Ann. art. 2451.

The time for appeal of this judgment has run, no appeal has been taken, and the judgment has not been satisfied.

To secure payment of the Judgment, Harrah’s perfected a UCC security interest in certain contingency fee agreements held by Sibley or The Sibley Law Firm in the following legal actions:

1. In Re: Bayou Sorrel Class Action, USDC, WDLA, Civil Action No.6:04CV1101;

2. Noretta Thomas and Demetrice Butler, each indiVidually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated versus A. Wilbert & Sons, 1.1. C. and XYZ Insurance Company, 18th IDC – Parish of Iberville, Suit No. 55,127 and all consolidated matters, Division B;

3. In Re: New Orleans Tank Care Leakage Fire Litigation, Civil District Court Parish of Orleans, Suit No. 02-13675;……

Harrahs was unable to collect from those legal settlements over the next 4 years when they took Mr Sibley back to court last year. Continue reading “The Advocate lends background on Hugh Sibley’s unshareable need”

Good intentions, the road to hell, and the pro se plaintiff in insurance claim litigation

In its Requests for Production to Plaintiff, Lexington requested specific information regarding designated experts. Plaintiff responded as follows:

I have not yet retained any experts. When I get one I will let you know. I
consider myself somewhat as an expert on Hurricanes. I have experienced first hand all of the ones that have hit the area since 1947. My mother told me about the ones she experienced….

Let’s start this update on  77-year-old Lexington (AIG) policyholder acting pro-se files hand-written complaint with federal court with my good intention of posting and complimenting Judge Ozerden’s Amended Order for Mediation:

Pages from pro se plaintiff amended mediation

Reading between the lines suggests the pro se plaintiff may have taken Judge Ozerden’s initial Order of Mediation as an offer and declined.  Continue reading “Good intentions, the road to hell, and the pro se plaintiff in insurance claim litigation”

Jim Brown on Louisiana

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

THE RISE AND FALL OF LSU

Huey Long was the best friend and supporter LSU ever had. He was called the father of the modern LSU by the Virginia Quarterly Review in commenting that “Huey stroked LSU as if he had been coddling a newborn pet elephant. During fiscal stringency in all other American states, Huey force-fed LSU with increasing appropriations.”  The Kingfish made no bones about his long term goals for the state’s flagship university. “LSU’s going to be the Harvard of the South.” But that was then. What happened in recent years that caused Louisiana State University to be an also ran, not just nationally, but right here in the Deep South?

LSU’s significant relevance as an educational pillar in the South continued into the 1950s. Prominent writers like Cleanth Brooks and Robert Penn Warren made the Baton Rouge campus a gathering point for major literary figures. The Southern Historical Association began publishing its Journal of Southern History as well as the long respected Southern Review, all from LSU. And the LSU Press became the publishing beacon for serious fiction and non-fiction rivaled only by the University of North Carolina Press.

Outstanding young academicians in a variety of fields were attracted to Baton Rouge, and the music department produced grand opera accompanied by its own symphony orchestra under directors of international acclaim. The efflorescence of so much creative and academic talent drew encomiums for Louisiana nationwide.

But then came the 60s and other southern states did not have the huge reservoirs of oil and gas. Education became a key to their survival. But in Louisiana, who cared about having a college degree when an oil field worker with a tenth grade education could make as much or more than many professionals with graduate degrees? A college degree became less relevant. And that’s when politics came into the mix.

With the economy running on auto pilot in Louisiana and unemployment running way behind other southern states, the cry for “keeping the flagship university strong” fell on deaf legislative ears. Continue reading “Jim Brown on Louisiana”