I am writing to confirm that I have been retained as local counsel by P.L. Blake, along with former U.S. Attorney Buck Buchanan, and counsel in Birmingham, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones and Kirk Wood. I was retained a few weeks ago.
I am going to continue writing on the blog on legal matters not involving what has been referred to as Scruggs I, and on other subjects on which I’ve previously posted or anything else that catches my eye, but not about either Scruggs I or my client until any part of the matter that might involve him is concluded.
The plot thickens…
Hicks…not Leary.
Damn. There goes the neighborhood…
Wow! So, where do we go to ridicule P.L. Blake’s lawyer’s arguments?
That was a joke, NMC. I look forward to doing so here, on P.L. Blake’s lawyer’s website. Ironic, isn’t it?
PS – Any decision on joining Alan Lange’s suit exposing the SF v Hood settlement?
PS2 – Scruggs I? P.L. Blake hasn’t been charged in Scruggs I, the bribery of Judge Lackey. Hmmm.
Geez… my head just exploded.
Well, at least Mr. Blake will have excellent representation in whatever lies ahead.
Will you still be blogging about Scruggs II, or is that too close to home now?
Say it ain’t so, Joe.
Everyone deserves good legal counsel, tho!
I will still be blogging about Scruggs II.
Wantedtobe, if you comply with the commenting guidelines, you can say anything you want, including about me.
So the next NYT’s Best Seller won’t be “Scruggs: Demise of the Tort King”, by TF. Instead it will be “How to Sell Newspaper Clippings for Big Bucks” by PLB, foreword by TF. But most importantly, edited by TF.
Damn. But hey. A man’s got to make a living. At least he knows the check is gonna be good :) Good luck NMC, kinda, sorta.
I knew that already, NMC, and that is what I dig about this blog of yours.
Knock it outta the park, Counsel. We’ll all be watchin’.
Wow! Didn’t see that coming. Can you post a picture of him when this is all said and done? Curious minds…
“We got your horse sold”.
Reminds me of days gone by when my buddies told me that the pot was here: “Krrrrrr, the eagle has landed, Krrrrr, repeat, the eagle has landed”.
Make sure you do get a photo of the two of you, NMC. That will be a souvenir for the ages.
At least you know he can pay his bills (Razor beat me to it, but that was my 1st thought when I saw the post).
link
Get that retainer Bro. As we have seen,the Scrugg’s crew idea of “fair” and everybody else’s ain’t the same. Their fair is a ticket to ride the ferris wheel and pink cotton candy.
And NMC, can you confirm that your fee is 7 figures. I know everyone deserves legal counsel, but is it possible PL has bought you out so that the flow of information on this blog and others is hampered, continuing PL’s life of secrecy. Can you share any of your thought processes in taking a case that appears counter to previous values you have extolled? Curious how these things come about.
NMC: A full moon is upon us. Expect the wackos to start popping up. They’ve already started.
I’ve represented some very sleazy clients myself, but you know this does blow your image(as a blogger I mean). Bye and good luck for you personally, not your client.
It doesn’t seem to me that NMC has to go back on any of the moral values he has extolled in the past. It’s premature to conjecture that he would, since there’s not even an indictment yet. NMC can still be an honest and upstanding lawyer — I think those are the values that he represents.
rofl@razorredux@2
WTBAL, maybe lotus could be persuaded to open up folo for Scruggs I comments?????
I’m on your side in this, NMC. Lawyers walk tightropes like this one all the time — it’s what we do. But I have three questions: Why the delay in disclosure? Why the muzzle on Scrugss I and not Scruggs II? And can you PLEASE confirm that you didn’t undertake this for less than a million? I realize the last one is privileged but P.L. can waive the privilege and I think he looks like a much more honorable and substantial player in this game if it is shown that he paid his counsel a reasonable sum under the circumstances — it would make him look a Hell of a lot better than Dickie if he’s not chiseling, or nickeling and diming his own counsel. My hope is that you make enough off this to put folo back into business, in order that we might enjoy Madame Lotus’s views on the whole nine yards while you’ve got one hand tied behind you (then we could get world news and animal coverage again — I’ve been missing both). I bet if you tossed her a hundred grand, she’d reconsider her exit from the blog scene.
Wow!!! That Good old boy is SMART!!! One way to silence bad press is to BUY it. With all the PL Blake talk that flowed through folo and this blog its a very smart move…..
Just wanted to say that “watching” above is not me. My sister used to be an attorney (before she married well and quit practicing), so I do understand, as no!myrights says above, the tightrope you walk daily. As long as you don’t compromise yourself to do it, I have no problem. I will miss the coverage though. That is what brought me to folo in the first place. But I, and I think just about everyone else, will keep reading your very informative blog. You will just have to write a very long catch-up post when it is all done.
OK, Tom, funny is funny but this should have been your April 1 post. Would someone please start a new blog, maybe titled “Folo-ing Tom Freeland”?
Lo’, you out there?
Just a reminder that this isn’t the first time NMC has had to refrain from blogging about a case in which he became involved. Any of y’all remember the Facility Group, Moultrie, etc.? We missed his well- reasoned analysis on that case, but life went on. You do whatcha’ gotta do. I do concur w/ NotZach above re: lotus and folo. Wish I had the shekels to bring her back.
1) I’m free to comment about the case involving Judge DeLaughter because it does not involve my client.
2) I am not going to make any effort to control the content of comments here by others other than as described in the comment guidelines.
3) I am not going to answer questions about my legal work on pending cases on this blog because I don’t think it would be professional for me to do so.
NMC I find no fault with your actions. Your in business to make money and defend your clients. I think PL Blake was very smart when he picked a local attorney in Oxford that is well known. The “hired gun lawyers” from all across the country that tried to represent others in this mess did not produce results. I think it was a good move by PL Blake. I don’t think it will help him if he faces federal charges as the judges in Oxford are pretty straight forward and tough nosed. Hard to explain away the BIG money he was paid to clip newspaper articles and keep his ear to ground for Dickey Scruggs. Good Luck NMC…… You will need it.
For the record, my comments were not to disparage NMC as an attorney – from all I have seen in reading Folo and his blog he is an attorney of integrity and significant intelligence. To me NMC was a voice in the “new investigative journalism” developing with blogs. I was an avid reader of his. My disappointment is in how easily that resource was lost on a topic that has been of so much interest and importance and which had lacked the traditional news media’s investigative efforts. I was sincerely curious about the internal process of choosing between one’s paid profession and big bucks and the unpaid but valued trust of blog readers. I hope it took a few moments of soul searching. Maybe NMC and other nonprofessional journalistic bloggers do not fully appreciate the role they are providing society. I will continue to read NMC for food and music news but do hope that there will be a place for Lotus in our future Scruggs et al developments and other newsworthy events that are overlooked in the media.
NMC–Your stipulations above are certainly professional, ethical & understandable. Remember criminal defense lawyers are the only barrier between citizens and the power of the state. Their contribution is the Constitutional protection of us all. Lotus is probably in census hell. RIP Mayor Melton.
Best of luck to you NMC, Blake has hired a strong and trustworthy advocate. However, I refuse to use Alan Lange’s site to follow this mess.
Say it with me now:
Folo!
Folo!
Folo!
Lotus, where are you?
choix brillant
NotZach, watching, Justice and others looking for lotus: I bet if we could come up w/ a few donations we could get her back for a bit…E-mail her at lotusflowah@widouta.net
Yikes, doesn’t 50% of Blake’s money belong to Roberts Wilson?
You need to keep your friends close and your enemies even closer. Smart move by Mr. Blake.
I’m on your side, NMC. But what about a photo of PL? Just a candid shot, out fishing, or a glamshot from Olan Mills? Or one of those profile silouettes the folks used to cut out with scissors from black paper and sell for dime at the State Fair?
NMC: Your impeccable integrity is why people knock on your door. Is it of no coincidence the BOP shipped Scruggs out of Oxford? The spot light and silk glove did not work.
All of my comments related to this have been in jest. I feel he knows my personal respect for him transcends who he represents as a client. I’ve no doubt he will continue to balance his personal and professional views and beliefs as so many of the rest of us do daily in our professional lives. To quote my old grand-daddy, “Business is business, friends is friends and fun is fun. Never confuse them and you can enjoy all of them.” It’s worked well for me and I suspect Tom can and will continue to as well. It’s who he is. And who we all should be as well. ‘Nuff said.
ETHICAL ISSUES AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST WHAT FUN. BEEN LURKING FOR GOOD YEAR OR SO. BLOG HAS RAISED MY OPINION OF THE LEGAL PROFESSION. HAVE HAD MANY PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH ATTORNEYS. I AM IMPRESSED WITH THE DISCUSSION TAKING PLACE.
It certainly seems to me that Mr Freeland has his priorities in the right order. I mean, his real job is an attorney, not a blogger. Who wouldn’t want to score a client like Blake? I doubt it took him very long to weigh taking on Mr. Blake’s case, or being able to blog about it.
And he’s still going to talk about the DeLaughter case anyway. Unless Mr. Blake tangles his way into that one too…
Of all the players/characters in the Tobacco Wars Mr. P.L. Blake seems the most down-to earth, believable, just a regular “bagman” that should not be prosecuted along the same lines as his boss, it is all still very political.
As long as Senior Blake sent Mr. Obama his part of that money he dont have much to worry bout.
What I been thinking is maybe it was PL’s goat and Dickie was just holding it down.
Hmmm…
Get your money up front NMC!
MGNAT @ 10:45, you are certainly entitled your opinion, but I think we are loooong way from saying Blake “should not prosecuted along the same lines as his boss…” Unless you know something I don’t (which is highly possible), but right now his name is directly tied to an attempt to bribe a judge.
I agree with Watching. If I did not like the attitude of a paper’s editorial staff, and I had buckets of money, I could just purchase the paper and get a new staff. It seems like Blake’s move was clear evidence that blogging has taken on a new role as a true journalistic outlet. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you don’t want your legal pursuits or difficulties talked about daily, indeed, hourly, you hire the chief blogger to represent you and then, while he might discuss some aspects of the larger case, he cannot talk about your part in it.
Hey Lotus, can you start up a fund somewhere so that we can all work to support you to blog again?
We´ve been allowed to comment on the case and… criticize Tom Freeland directly (even though he cannot comment back) which means this blog is ALIVE. Brother, keep these open threads coming!
I suspect that even Beelzebub is entitled to an effective defence, but at what cost (to the devil, his defenders and to Justice). If an effective defence means that the Feds are stymied from rolling a bagman onto the elected recipients of the largess that was the king of torts then the political landscape in Mississippi will remain a Pandæmonium. I find that unconscionable.