Cali. Blog – Don’t let Scruggs happen here
The California Supreme Court last week heard oral arguments in a case that could lead the state down the wrong path.
The case, County of Santa Clara v. Superior Court, would allow state and county prosecutors to hire private contingency fee lawyers and in all or in part overturn People ex rel. Clancy v. Superior Court, a unanimous ruling from the 1980s that banned such actions due to the unavoidable conflict of interest that arises in such a partnership.
Allowing trial lawyers to prosecute civil cases on the government’s behalf could well open the door to corruption. That’s exactly what occurred in Mississippi in the well-publicized case of trial lawyer Dickie Scruggs.
In today’s Daily Journal (YP note – not the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal), the authors of the authoritative book examining the whole sordid tale, including bribing judges, tell about the rise and fall of Dickie Scruggs. The op-ed by Alan Lange and Tom Dawson – the latter the lead U.S. prosecutor in the Scruggs cases – is available to subscribers only here. In addition, the paper ran a book excerpt that subscribers can find here
For non-subscribers, here’s the opening from the op-ed.
Continue reading at The California Civil Justice Blog
5/12/10
Magnolia Tribune
