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Two of Scruggs’ Lawyers Withdraw Following FBI Search of Their Law Firm

Posted Jan 9, 2008, 09:54 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Two lawyers from a law firm searched by federal agents last month have resigned from representation of high-profile plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs, who has been charged with conspiring to bribe a judge.

Joey Langston and Billy Quin of the Langston Law Firm in Booneville, Miss., received permission to withdraw from the case yesterday, the Associated Press reports. A former partner in the firm, Timothy Balducci, has pleaded guilty in the bribery case and is cooperating with investigators.

The motion (PDF posted by LegalNewsline.com) did not cite the search of the law offices.

Scruggs is accused of conspiring to pay a Mississippi judge $50,000 to resolve a fee dispute in his favor in Hurricane Katrina litigation.

The Clarion Ledger reports that the FBI search of the Langston Law Firm sought documents related to a different 1994 fee dispute involving asbestos work. Balducci represented Scruggs in the later stages of the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Sanders has refused to release documents about the FBI search of Langston offices, but said the probe did not concern the current bribery charge against Scruggs. “These documents concern an entirely separate investigation, and thus, cannot be produced,” he said in a court filing.

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