In an indictment filed last Wednesday, the grand jury charged that Mr. Scruggs and the other defendants—two of whom are members of his law firm—offered $50,000 to Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Henry Lackey for a favorable ruling in a dispute with another law firm over the division of attorneys’ fees.
The fees stemmed from a case involving Hurricane Katrina insurance claims. Mr. Scruggs is one of the nation’s best-known trial attorneys, having played a key role in the 1997 global tobacco settlement and representing plaintiffs in disputes with insurers over Hurricane Katrina claims.