Members of a Mississippi law firm that was searched by federal agents last month have resigned as defense attorneys in the high-profile bribery case involving wealthy lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs.
U.S. District Judge Neal Biggers on Tuesday granted the request by Joey Langston and Billy Quin of the Langston Law Firm to withdraw as attorneys for Scruggs, according to court records filed Tuesday in federal court in Oxford, Miss.
Scruggs and four others, including his son and law partner Zach, were indicted Nov. 28 on charges they conspired to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving disputed legal fees.
One of Langston’s former law partners, Timothy Balducci, pleaded guilty Dec. 4 to conspiracy in the bribery case and is helping investigators.
On Dec. 10, the FBI searched the Langston law firm in Booneville. Agents took records from cases that Balducci worked on before he left the firm more than a year earlier, attorney Tony Farese, who represents Zach Scruggs in the bribery case, said at the time.
FBI officials would not say what they were looking for.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David A. Sanders, in a response filed Tuesday to Scruggs’ request documents from the government’s investigation, declined to release copies of the application and affidavit related to the search warrant issued for Langston’s law office.
“These documents concern an entirely separate investigation, and thus, cannot be produced,” Sanders said in court documents.
Langston and Quin did not say specifically in court records why they wanted to withdraw but noted that other attorneys have appeared in court on behalf of Scruggs and Scruggs’ defense would not be harmed by their withdrawal.
Quin and Langston did not respond to several messages left Tuesday by The Associated Press.
John Keker, a San Francisco attorney who represents Scruggs in the bribery case, would not comment on why Langston and Quin would no longer be working on the case.
The bribery charges arose from a lawsuit filed against Scruggs by another law firm that wants a bigger cut of at least $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of policyholder lawsuits over Hurricane Katrina damage.
Associated Press reporter Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans contributed to this report.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Trigger Warning: Cyber Policy Wordings to Impact Coverage for Tech Outage 
Project 2025 Plan to End NFIP Welcomed by Some, Rejected by Others in Insurance 
Applied Systems Acquires Insurance AI Platform Planck 
USAA Renter’s Insurance Policyholder Charged with Multiple Counts of Fraud 
