Legal News

Lott?s Name Surfaces in Connection with New Scruggs Suit

By Ashby Jones

It was about this time last year when things started heating up with L’Affaire Scruggs down in Mississippi. And by March, the die had been cast: famed plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs had pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a Mississippi judge. In August, he reported to federal prison.

But things just might be getting interesting again down there. A recent lawsuit filed against Scruggs and others alleges that former U.S. Senator Trent Lott conspired with Scruggs in an effort to improperly influence a different Mississippi judge, Bobby DeLaughter, in a case involving asbestos litigation.

The suit, filed in federal court in Oxford, Miss., was brought by an Alabama attorney, William Roberts Wilson, Jr., and renews a longstanding battle between him and Scruggs over fees from asbestos litigation. In 2006, DeLaughter, a Hinds County judge, made a ruling that was favorable to Scruggs in that dispute. While an expert recommended to the court that Scruggs pay Wilson about $15 million, Judge DeLaughter ruled that he was due only $1.5 million. Click here for the complaint, courtesy of our friends at Y’all Politics.

The bribery allegations involving DeLaughter have arisen before. Last year, federal prosecutors in Mississippi asserted that Scruggs and others told DeLaughter that they could arrange for him to be considered for federal judgeship in exchange for the favorable ruling. As followers of the Scruggs saga know, Scruggs and Lott are brothers-in-law.

Federal agents have investigated whether Lott knowingly played a role in the conspiracy, but have not lodged criminal charges. The lawsuit does not mention Lott by name, referring only to a “former United States Senator,” though an attorney for Wilson confirmed that the senator was in fact Lott. A spokesman for Lott, Bret Boyles, declined to comment. Lott, who retired from the Senate in 2007, now works as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. DeLaughter could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, but has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in the past.

To date, the investigation into the DeLaughter matter has landed one conviction, that of Joseph Langston, a former lawyer. Interestingly, last week, a judge delayed the start of Langston’s three-year sentence at the request of federal prosecutors. According to sources close to Langston, he is cooperating with federal prosecutors on the DeLaughter investigation, which continues to roll on. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Oxford did not return a call seeking comment.

Scruggs has not been charged in the DeLaughter situation, nor has Judge DeLaughter, who was suspended from his duties last March.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on January 14, 2009 (boomark / email).