Miss. Bar Wants Scruggs’ License Pulled

The Washington Post, 3/19/8

The Mississippi State Bar filed a petition to disbar high-profile attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs.

The petition was filed Tuesday with the Mississippi Supreme Court, which decides such matters.

A similar petition was filed against Sidney A. Backstrom, Scruggs’ law partner.

Scruggs, 61, and Backstrom, 38, each pleaded guilty last week in U.S. District Court in Oxford to one count of conspiring to bribe a state judge. Other counts were dropped.

While the high court makes the final ruling, the revocation of the license to practice law is standard in the case of a felony conviction, the Mississippi Bar Association said last week. Under the rules, Mississippi lawyers who are disbarred for a felony cannot seek reinstatement.