State Farm Insurance Cos. says it will get a chance to depose Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood and indicted trial lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs as a result of a federal court order entered Thursday.
Federal Magistrate Judge Michael Parker made the decision after a Wednesday status conference. Hood had asked Parker that a temporary restraining order preventing Hood from continuing his criminal investigation into State Farm’s practices after Hurricane Katrina be lifted.
State Farm has, in turn, sued Hood, claiming he already signed a non-prosecutorial agreement and is only pursuing criminal charges again to force the company to reach civil settlements with unhappy policyholders.