Alabama

Burr & Forman Expands Presence in Gulf Coast, Acquires Maritime Firm

Birmingham, Ala.-based Burr & Forman, identified as a key player in economic development projects in the South, has absorbed a Mobile, Ala., maritime practice, firmly establishing its presence in the Gulf Coast region. The merger adds 18 lawyers from Bowron Latta & Wasden to the 200-attorney firm, the Press-Register reports.…

Feb 1, 2008 7:46 PM CST

No Courtroom, No Case: Ala. Judge Dismisses 220 Tickets

The 15th of January was a good day to be defending a traffic offense case in the Alabama courtroom of Judge Michael Newell. After Winston County officials failed to assign him a courtroom because of a scheduling conflict, Newell dismissed all pending cases on his docket except for defendants accused…

Jan 23, 2008 10:17 PM CST

Scruggs to Challenge Special Prosecutors in Hearing Next Week

Mississippi plaintiffs lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs will be arraigned next week on a criminal contempt charge for failing to return documents related to State Farm’s handling of Hurricane Katrina claims. Scruggs got the documents from two sisters who worked for a State Farm contractor. Rather than returning them, he gave…

Nov 13, 2007 6:56 PM CST

Exxon Gets $3.6B Verdict Slashed in AL Case

Updated: The Alabama Supreme Court has tossed most of a $3.6 billion verdict against Exxon Mobil for underpaying natural gas royalties to the state. The 8-1 ruling eliminated the entire $3.5 billion punitive damages award on the ground there was no proof the oil giant committed fraud, the Birmingham News…

Nov 2, 2007 12:46 PM CDT

Tort Reform Red Flag Raised in Alabama?

A recent $50 million jury verdict in the case of a man burned to death when his water heater exploded will only fuel tort-reform efforts in Alabama, according to an editorial. The Alabama Press-Register opinion piece acknowledges that jurors must have felt sympathy for the family of Richard Krantz. But,…

Oct 24, 2007 4:28 PM CDT

Former AG Says DOJ Politicized Prosecution

After a relatively convivial two-day confirmation hearing last week before the Senate Judiciary Committee concerning President Bush’s nomination of Michael Mukasey to be the new U.S. attorney general, the gloves were off again today in a House Judiciary Committee hearing over alleged improper White House political influence in Department of…

Oct 23, 2007 11:05 PM CDT

Lawyer’s Deposition Tells of Politics in Siegelman Case

A Republican lawyer is providing new details about allegations that politics played a role in the prosecution of former Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman. Dana Jill Simpson said that Rob Riley Jr., the son of the state’s current governor, bragged that a GOP judge would “hang” Siegelman for partisan reasons, the…

Oct 11, 2007 2:46 PM CDT

Judge Accused of Spanking Inmates Resigns

Ethics charges have been dropped against an Alabama judge accused of helping friends and family by reducing their sentences or changing their status. The Judicial Inquiry Commission moved to dismiss the charges less than a day after Judge Herman Thomas resigned from the bench, WKRG.com reports. A criminal investigation, however,…

Oct 3, 2007 12:35 PM CDT

Supreme Court Stops TX Execution

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for a Texas death-row inmate in a move that suggests it may agree to halt lethal injections in additional cases. The court yesterday agreed to block the execution of Carlton Turner Jr., convicted of killing his adoptive parents, the New…

Sep 28, 2007 3:45 PM CDT

AL Prosecutor Rebuked By State AG

An Alabama prosecutor who testified in support of a convicted murderer in his successful appeal of his death sentence has been rebuked by the state attorney general. Robert E. Owens, the Shelby County district attorney and the prosecutor in the case in which LaSamuel Gamble was convicted, testified that it…

Sep 15, 2007 2:40 AM CDT

Katrina Tax Break Promotes Luxe Condos

Federal tax breaks billed as providing rebuilding aid for areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama that were devastated by Hurricane Katrina are promoting construction of luxurious homes far inland. As red tape and disorganization, among other issues, delay rebuilding in some of the most severely damaged areas, the tax breaks…

Aug 14, 2007 6:45 PM CDT

Girl, 11, in DUI Case, Clocks 100 in Chase

An 11-year-old Florida girl has been charged with drunken driving after a high-speed chase in Alabama in which she clocked more than 100 mph before sideswiping another vehicle and crashing her family’s car. The girl, whose name wasn’t released because she is a juvenile, also faces charges of speeding, leaving…

Jul 6, 2007 8:45 PM CDT

Convicted Governor Blames Karl Rove for Recommended 30-Year Prison Term

The controversy over alleged White House politicization of the federal prosecution process has moved beyond concern about the perhaps politically motivated dismissals of nine U.S. attorneys to a new issue–the cases they did, or did not, pursue. Now Don Siegelman, a former Democratic governor of Alabama, is contending that he…

Jun 27, 2007 1:46 AM CDT

‘Mockingbird’ Legacy: Remembrance of Racist Times Past

Although it is a novel, rather than non-fiction, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” has, perhaps more than any other book, impressed into the minds of many a consciousness of the racist justice system that characterized the segregated American south for much of the last century. An instant best-seller after…

Jun 13, 2007 9:53 PM CDT

Indictment for Shooting that Changed History

The district attorney wasn’t releasing the name of the man indicted yesterday for a 1965 killing in Alabama that helped inspire a 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. But the lawyer for retired police officer James B. Fowler told the New York Times that the indictment likely names…

May 10, 2007 2:19 PM CDT