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“KEKER” UPDATED BELOW

Welcome to Week Three in the Dickie Scruggs saga. According to U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers, Jr.’s scheduling order (pdf) in United States v. Richard F. “Dickie” Scruggs et al., today we learn the names of all counsel of record for defendants Dickie, Zach Scruggs, Sid Backstrom, and Steve Patterson.

Here, I’d like to ask folo’s clued-in (especially Mississippi-clued-in) readers to help the rest of us understand more about the attorneys that roster will include. So: NMC, MS Atty, Alyssa, and/or anyone else who’d like to dip an oar into this water, will you please share with us your local knowledge of the names we’ve already heard and any new ones we’ll hear today? We’ll be particularly interested your appraisals of their crim-def strengths and weaknesses, potential conflicts of interest, and any other interesting twists of their histories with and among this set of clients. I’ll get it started, updating as y’all and others around the Web help fill in the ur-post’s spaces . . .

John Keker (and associates)

Last week’s developments included (h/t Ashby Jones) the filing of a motion (pdf; h/t David Rossmiller) for pro hac vice. What that means is: “Just ‘for this particular time,’ Judge Biggers, please allow John Keker and his young associates Brook Dooley, Travis LeBlanc, and Warren Braunig to practice before you, even though they’re San Franciscans who don’t belong to the Missisippi Bar.”

UPDATE: Tupelo’s 12/11/07 NEMS Daily Journal, briefly mentioning the FBI raid at Langston and Balducci’s office, features highlights of the foursome’s CVs.

Already battling other Alabama and Mississippi cases against Dickie Scruggs, John Keker is the kind of lawyer Barry Bonds tried to hire and Bill Lerach did hire: major crim-defense chops . . . but how well he/they will play to Magnolia State jurors remains to be seen.

Joey Langston

Joey Langston of the Langston Law Firm in Booneville, MS, filed that motion for Keker, and we’ve seen his name in many Scruggs stories. He represents Scruggs Law Firm and will presumably continue to assist Keker and Dickie in U.S. v. Scruggs. But apparently he hasn’t been heard from much lately (has he a sore throat er whut?). (UPDATE: Oops. Joey’s now heard from the F.B.I.)

Billy Quin

Billy Quin only recently joined Langston Law Firm, I believe. But a reader has sent me a link to a Daily Journal story by Bill Minor (Paul Minor‘s father), rather sympathetic to the Jim Hood-Quin-Langston moves in the MCI litigation.

Take a look at both that and this related page at Langston’s website: the Langston Law Firm and Tim Balducci now find themselves co-plaintiffs against Mississippi Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant in a New York MCI-bankruptcy case. That’s a pretty fine howdy-do, given events on and since November 28, isn’t it?

Tony Farese

Zach Scruggs has chosen Tony Farese of Ashland, MS, as his defender. Beyond his website bio, all I know about Tony is that NMC once put him “on a short list I’d consider if I got my ass in a crack “” (Since NMC doesn’t seem the sort to have ass-in-crack distractions, perchance NMC would care to expand . . . ?)

Yesterday in the Clarion-Ledger, Sid Salter quoted Jackson trial lawyer Dennis Sweet, co-author with Dickie of a 2000 Harper’s article making the legal case for U.S. reparations to the descendants of slaves. Sweet said, among other things, that he has “a hard time believing that Dickie would involve his son in anything like this.” A theory for Tony Farese and colleagues to run with there . . .

J. Rhea Tannehill, Jr.

J. Rhea Tannehill, Jr., of Tannehill and Carmean, Oxford, has enlisted (pdf) for Sid Backstrom. Fella who (a) likes cats and (b) names them Catfish and Hushpuppie can’t be all bad even if he’s a lawyer, I figger. But does some reader know more about why Sid would entrust his future freedom and well-being to Rhea T?

Frank W. Trapp

With help from NMC’s comment below, I now know who matches who on the service list of the Keker pro hac vice motion: Frank W. Trapp of the Jackson, MS, office of the large firm Phelps Dunbar is also defending Sid Backstrom in this case — probably, given his seniority and long experience in white-collar criminal defense, as Sid’s first chair.

Ken Coghlan

All I find online for Steve Patterson’s attorney is this FindLaw listing; apparently, like Scruggs Law Firm, he has no website; FindLaw has him as an Oxford solo practitioner in insurance law only. If that correctly captures the whole story, I wonder why Patterson expects to get what he needs in the way of effective criminal defense with Mr. Coghlan alone. [N.B.: Locally-aware commenter NMC now confirms that Coghlan is an experienced crim-def specialist too.]

[Unfortunately, that cannot be said of his co-counsel . . . ]

Hiram Eastland

A cousin of virulent segregationist Sen. James Eastland, Hiram apparently has no criminal-defense experience whatsoever. Did he just wander into Steve Patterson’s office at a bad time? Mississippians, whaddup widdis? seems to have run off Ken Coghlan.

On December 17, the NEMS Daily Journal reported that

… on Dec. 10 attorney Hiram Eastland Jr. of Greenwood informed the court he will be counsel for Patterson.

“In light of these developments, ” Coghlan’s motion states, he asks the court to allow him to withdraw as counsel because Patterson’s attorney now is Eastland.

Although it comes as a surprise to folo readers previously more aware of Eastland’s activities as lobbyist than as lawyer, he is apparently somehow involved in the defense of Alabama’s ex-governor Siegelman. See here, here, here, and here.

Back with more as we spot it.

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