Richard F. "Dickie" Scruggs (born May 17, 1946) is an American former A6A naval aviator, a formerly prominent trial lawyer, now disbarred, and the brother-in-law of former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Scruggs and his wife, Diane, were ardent supporters of the University of Mississippi and made large donations to several organizations on campus.
"You don't have to do this thing, and nobody is going to think less of you if you don't.'' [29] In June 2004, Scruggs also led a lawsuit against 13 non-profit hospital groups, alleging they hoarded funds gained from tax breaks while dispensing inadequate care. "But I mainly like the action. Then why not reduce his own fees? The settlement, however, immediately came under attack in Congress from politicians and public-health advocates who said it didn't go far enough. After working for some large law firms in Jackson, Miss., he moved his family back to Pascagoula in 1980 to hang out his own shingle, and settled into a prosperous but unremarkable career handling a variety of cases. “If Scruggs sues, it’s serious. They lost, but after one skirmish with Big Tobacco, Scruggs was hooked. One of his most outspoken critics, Richard L. Huber, chief executive of Aetna, has referred publicly to Scruggs as "Slugs," and recently said, "What he does for personal enrichment is to make vital services and goods more expensive.'' Narrowing his eyes behind aviator glasses, the balding, 46-year-old Scruggs asserts: "The perfect has become the enemy of the good.". Then he saw that the tantrum, out of character for the disciplined Scruggs, could create leverage. "It sent a shudder through everybody.". “It’s politically disingenuous to say there was no confusion there. Then RJR Nabisco Chairman Steven F. Goldstone shocked everyone by telling London's Financial Times he would consider a global settlement. A short time after the tobacco lawsuit, Scruggs led and became a spokesman for the plaintiffs in the Ritalin class action lawsuits. '', But critics say Scruggs is grossly overstepping his role as a trial lawyer by suing a company as a means to changing the way health care is delivered. Scruggs has a 120-ft. motor yacht from which he watched the America's Cup races off New Zealand. Testimony such as Wigand's upped the pressure on Big Tobacco. That fee dispute resulted in a separate trial to determine how to apportion the fees. Scruggs had launched his law career with a brief stint at a big firm but soon hung out his shingle in Pascagoula. He jams up the aisle as Jeffrey Wigand, the real-life character at the heart of the story, stops by to catch up. Raise the stakes so high that neither side can afford to lose, because that's when compromises are made. He recalls thinking that "if I'm going to Vietnam, I'd rather do it as an officer." The suits have spooked investors, putting pressure on industry stocks, some of which fell almost 20 percent when news of the suits first surfaced. "It's money for victims, money for lawyers, money for states, financial security for the industry. "When you've got 32 AGs together," he noted wryly, "it's hard for them to agree on anything.". "Dickie talked him into testifying. That resulted from a complaint by the Champaign County Board of Review that many outside, for profit entities were operating within the hospital making corporate profit. He wondered if Scruggs would take his case.
Among the plaintiffs' attorneys, Scruggs is the chief strategist. The crux of the argument is that, in return for tax breaks, nonprofit hospitals have an explicit or implicit contractual obligation with government to provide free or discounted treatment to the needy.
No. In November, 1995, after a Kentucky court forbade Wigand from discussing his B&W career, Scruggs escorted him into a Pascagoula courtroom to give a court-ordered deposition in the Mississippi suit--putting his client at odds with the Kentucky court. Scruggs is contesting a B&W suit against him for facilitating the leak. When the suit was thrown out of federal court for technical reasons, the group scrambled to duplicate it in as many state class-actions as possible. It was no ploy. Dickie Bannenberg Says Post-Hedonism May Define The New Age Of Yacht Design - Forbes. He says the movie accurately depicts a key moment at Scruggs's house when Wigand was deciding whether to agree to be deposed and risk getting thrown in jail. "The Insider" details Wigand's troubles with his former employer once he tried to publicize industry secrets.