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Insurance Law

Insurance Coverage Law Blog

Recent cases in insurance coverage matters, as well as industry developments and news.
By David Rossmiller

Post Frequency: 1.1/day

Last Entry: July 28, 2010 at 17:16:01

USA v. Scruggs ('Bama version) is dismissed, case closed

Posted on February 29, 2008
Here's a pdf of the judge's order. More when I have a minute to read it.__________________UPDATE: I read it, and all I can say is thank goodness, it has been a long time coming -- finally, a case where the criminal justice system doesn't railroad a famous, rich, white guy! Famous rich friends of Dickie Scruggs -- it's party time! Although the judge did allow that it might have looked bad that Scruggs defied the terms of the injunction, Judge Vinson cited two reasons why the charge of criminal contempt could not stand against Scruggs:First, the court had no jurisdiction because Scruggs was not active in the Renfroe v...

More on Hood interview on MPB

Posted on February 29, 2008
Is it just about over, the Jim Hood Self-Destruction Tour? I mean, we are all on his back to talk when he fell silent in the wake of the Scruggs indictment, but now it looks like Quiet Jim knew better than Chatty Jim. This new strategy of talking to the media? Not working...

Update on oral arguments in Landry, Sher cases before Louisiana Supreme Court

Posted on February 28, 2008
In my post from Monday, I neglected to mention that in addition to Landry v. Citizens Property, the Valued Policy Law case, the Louisiana Supreme Court was also to hear oral arguments Tuesday for Sher v. Lafayette, a case where the lower appellate court found a flood exclusion in a homeowners policy ambiguous...

Hood interview on NPR about Scruggs, Balducci, State Farm

Posted on February 28, 2008
I listened to it, not much time right now to comment. But here's the link. Listen for what he says about being influenced by Mike Moore and how the answers get pretty fuzzy when it comes to what Balducci and Patterson actually said to him. One thing though...

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Hood discusses meeting with Balducci, Patterson

Posted on February 28, 2008
In this AP story by Holbrook Mohr, does Jim Hood sound like he's about had enough of being Attorney General of Mississippi? A State Farm attorney suggested during a court hearing earlier this month that Scruggs dispatched Balducci and Patterson with a message for Hood: Scruggs, a political force with deep pockets, would support another candidate for attorney general if Hood charged State Farm with a crime...

Scruggs Nation, February 27: the 'Bama prosecution

Posted on February 27, 2008
I read the latest filing by the special prosecutors in USA v. Scruggs (Alabama edition) and they really slagged Scruggs big time in this one. An excerpt: The Special Prosecutors have also learned of recent sworn testimony by Cori Rigsby Moran and/or Kerri Rigsby, in which it was acknowledged by one or both of these material witnesses, that the Defendant Scruggs knew of the planned "data dump" weekend in June 2006, before the data dump occurred, and that it was Scruggs who made pre-arrangements for the Attorney General's office to pick up the documents on that Monday morning...

More on yesterday's ruling from Judge Biggers in USA v. Scruggs (Northern Mississippi edition)

Posted on February 27, 2008
I'll have a few more things to say about yesterday's orders by Judge Biggers, which are in this post from yesterday, when I have time to post, which will be over my lunch hour today. Don't want you to think I've forgotten about these. _____________________________________What is striking to me about Judge Biggers' orders denying defendants' motions is how short the orders were -- not much wringing of hands or fussing around...

Jones v. Scruggs update

Posted on February 27, 2008
I saw this story on my PDA yesterday but didn't link to it because it was only a few paragraphs of a "breaking" story and I couldn't tell what was going on, which makes commenting difficult. I figured there would be a more complete story later, and I was right...

Scruggs Nation, February 26: the update

Posted on February 26, 2008
Judge Biggers' orders are out on the defense motions in USA v. Scruggs (Northern Mississippi edition) -- all denied. We can talk more about these later, but here they are:Order denying motion to suppress wiretap evidence.Order denying motion to exclude extrinsic evidence of prior related acts...

Scruggs Nation, February 26: what of the Balducci-Patterson-Hood meeting?

Posted on February 26, 2008
There were a large number of filings in the USA v. Scruggs case (Northern Mississippi edition) yesterday, but one thing from these documents stuck out like a sweet potatoes deliveryman in a judge's chambers. Check out this passage from one of the exhibits attached to a supplemental Scruggs brief on the validity of the wiretaps in the bribery case...

Louisiana Supreme Court to hear oral arguments on appeal of Landry case, interpretation of Valued Policy Law

Posted on February 25, 2008
The docket for the Louisiana Supreme Court says that oral arguments will be heard tomorrow in Landry v. Citizens Property Ins. Co., a case featuring a remarkable opinion from the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal -- remarkable in the sense it makes you want to remark that it makes no sense whatsoever...

Scruggs Nation, February 22: home sour home

Posted on February 22, 2008
There's no place like home . . . gulp. Or so Dickie Scruggs and the other alleged bribery conspirators seemed to think when they filed their motion for a change of venue for their scheduled March 31 trial. However, Judge Biggers has turned that motion down, apparently along with all the others (the news stories I read are unclear about the fate of the motions to sever the trials of Zach Scruggs and Sid Backstrom from that of Dickie Scruggs, but since they don't affirmatively say the motions were granted, I'm assuming those motions also were denied)...

Update on Scruggs hearing, continues today

Posted on February 21, 2008
I loved this stuff on the Scruggs hearing from Patsy Brumfield of the Daily Journal -- great color.The third-floor courtroom was packed – media, regular folks and law students, even curious attorneys from around the storied Oxford Square. The defense tables were filled with some of the finest criminal lawyers money can buy...

Was Birnbaum's sending of the accidental e-mail about Hood really an accident?

Posted on February 21, 2008
This is the question some have posed to me. I considered this possibility immediately after I heard of the e-mail about Jim Hood, which is discussed in this post from two days ago. I soon rejected this as a likely possibility for reasons I will state below, and I didn't think it worth bringing up until I received several messages from regular readers whom I would place in the category of canaries in the rumor coal mine -- they reliably hear of almost all the key rumors and are accurate reflections of the zeitgeist (I mean this in a complimentary way -- if they were nutjobs I would pay no attention to what they say)...

WSJ story on feds' look at Lott's role in alleged attempt to influence DeLaughter

Posted on February 21, 2008
Good stuff here from Paulo Prada and Ashby Jones. Here's an excerpt:Several people familiar with the situation say that associates of Mr. Scruggs told investigators that Mr. Scruggs relayed Judge Delaughter's interest in the federal judgeship to then-Sen...

Scruggs Nation, February 20: hearing day

Posted on February 20, 2008
March 17 remains the last day for plea bargains in USA v. Scruggs, and if the defense motions that will be heard at today's hearing don't succeed, I wonder if we'll start seeing some movement. Here are the pleadings filed yesterday:Here is the government's opposition to Sid Backstrom's and Zach Scruggs' motions for severance...

Judge refuses to dismiss Scruggs indictment

Posted on February 20, 2008
An AP story on today's hearing in Oxford, Mississippi. Tick, tick, tick, the clock will strike March 17 o'clock before you know it (that's the final date for plea bargains in this case). Are we going to see some kind of plea agreements coming soon?

Update on State Farm motion to disqualify Katrina Litigation Group

Posted on February 19, 2008
It's a measure of heightened awareness of the whole scene in Mississippi: here is yet another story by John O'Brien of Legal Newsline reporting on State Farm's efforts to disqualify what's left of the former Scruggs Katrina Group from Katrina litigation, which would have the effect of forcing the group to change its name once again, I suppose...

Private insurers start to re-enter south Louisiana market

Posted on February 19, 2008
I'm not so sure I'd get too excited by the developments reported in this Rebecca Mowbray story in the Times-Picayune, at least not yet. The story says insurers are once again beginning to compete for many policies that, as of late, have been held by Citizens Property...

State Farm attorney mistakenly sends query about having Hood held in contempt to reporters, Hood's press spokesperson

Posted on February 19, 2008
Some of Jim Hood's proneness to gaffes must have rubbed off on Sheila Birnbaum of Skadden, Arps, a lead counsel for State Farm, when she was down in Mississippi to hear Hood testify February 6. Earlier today, Birnbaum accidentally replied to all the people on the distribution list for an e-mail Hood's press spokeswoman sent out this morning to a number of people, including reporters...

Hood denies there is a settlement in State Farm v. Hood

Posted on February 19, 2008
As the saying goes, denial ain't just a river in Egypt. Here's an e-mail from AG Hood's media office this morning: Hello All,Just wanted to note that General Hood has been on record (more than once) as saying the ONLY thing under seal in the federal case, State Farm v...

U.S. Supreme Court rejects cert. for In Re Katrina Canal Breaches case

Posted on February 19, 2008
UPDATE: This is somewhat more complicated than I have time to explain here at present, but who appealed from the Fifth Circuit decision were Xavier University and 68 plaintiffs who wanted to have a class action that was called Chehardy. Some other plaintiffs who had been consolidated in In Re Katrina Canal Breaches case did not appeal -- the Vanderbrook proposed class action plaintiffs and maybe there are some more who I've forgotten about...

Reality takes a holiday on High Street

Posted on February 19, 2008
Mississippi AG Jim Hood has developed quite a specialty in talking about things that are supposed to be secret, like his state grand jury investigations last year and the recent settlement in the State Farm v. Hood lawsuit. But how low have Hood's fortunes sunk? This low: he can't even win an argument when he's the only one talking...

Scruggs Nation, February 18: 'Too dumb for Dickie'

Posted on February 18, 2008
The Scruggs defense just got its official slogan, if it is on the ball enough to know a gem when they see it, from this Q&A in the Wall Street Journal Law Blog with actor Colm Feore, who played Scruggs in a movie. Back in November, Scruggs was indicted for allegedly bribing a judge in Mississippi, and it’s turned into quite a mess...

Fifth Circuit strikes down fee allocation involving ex parte hearing featuring prominent member of Katrina Litigation Group

Posted on February 15, 2008
I read this recent opinion from the Fifth Circuit about a fee allocation among plaintiffs' counsel in a class acton settlement. The case was of interest to me because it involves Don Barrett, of tobacco litigation and Scruggs(less) Katrina Group fame, and if you remember, a fee dispute among Scruggs Katrina Group firms is what touched off the Judge Lackey bribery plot allegedly involving Dickie Scruggs...

Valentine's Day potpourri

Posted on February 14, 2008
I was going through my feedreader, which I haven't had much time to do recently, and with this relative lull it's a good time to give a few links and talk about a few things that I've yet to get to.-- I was reading this story by John O'Brien of Legal Newsline about the battle in the McIntosh v...

Scruggsellaneous odds and ends

Posted on February 13, 2008
In the crunch of daily blogging, inevitably some things get left behind. Sometimes they stay left behind, but sometimes, through luck and perseverance -- like the Rachel finding Ishmael afloat on Queequeg's coffin while searching for its lost children -- these castaways are rescued...

Katrina article in Bloomberg Law Reports

Posted on February 13, 2008
Here's a copy of something I wrote on Katrina litigation in the Fifth Circuit that ran as the featured article in the February 11 Bloomberg Law Reports -- Insurance Law. I won't bore you with the terms of the copyright for this article, but it doesn't vest in me for a period of time, so I appreciate Bloomberg giving me permission to link to a copy of the article immediately...

Scruggs Nation, February 12: the sweet potatoes edition

Posted on February 12, 2008
Well, everyone has been waiting for some time for the other shoe store to drop in the Scruggs scandal, especially after the guilty plea of Joey Langston. It wouldn't surprise me to see some big developments soon. But be that as it may, for today, in USA v...

More on transcript of February 6 State Farm v. Hood hearing

Posted on February 11, 2008
I read through every single word of the transcript, and it was painful -- painful because Jim Hood thoroughly beclowned himself. Whether it was an intentional diversionary tactic or involuntary, I cannot say, but the persona Hood offered at the hearing was certainly no Albert Einstein -- in fact, it was not even an Alfred Einstein...

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