In deference to long time poster ReadyForAChange, he made a fascinating observation that really deserves its own post.
In just another example in a continuing pattern, Dickie Scruggs hired renowned defense attorney Jack Dunbar, who was the President of the Mississippi Bar Association in 1983-1984, to represent him in the Luckey Wilson fee case that they filed against Scruggs after the asbestos fees were split. That’s certainly not news.
However, what is news, at least to the YallPolitics Nation is that Jack Dunbar, prior to serving as lead counsel to Scruggs in the Luckey/Wilson case, played a pretty pivotal role in the Scruggs financial fortune, albeit in an indirect fashion. Dunbar was selected by the State of Mississippi (read then AG Mike Moore) as Mississippi’s representative to the arbitration panel that set the final tobacco settlement and attorneys’ fees.
The Tobacco Fee Arbitration Panel was created in 1998 as part of the settlement of state tobacco litigation between the leading companies in the tobacco industry and the state Attorneys General. Its objective is to determine full, fair and reasonable attorneys’ fees for the outside counsel retained by the states to pursue their cases. These fees, which will be paid by the tobacco companies, are separate from — and in addition to — the multi-billion dollar financial recoveries the states will receive through their settlements with the industry.
Think about this. Of the 6,000 available Mississippi attorneys at the time, Scruggs just so happened to choose the one that just happened to serve on an arbitration panel that played a significant role in making him a multi-gazillionaire. That lawyer just happened to also be the former President of the Mississippi Bar.
Aye yah aye.
Magnolia Tribune
