Jackson Jambalaya

The primary problem with securing full-time attorneys for governmental entities governed by political appointees or elected representatives is complete lack of stability in the position. Every few years there is the potential for turnover that could lead to the ouster of the full time lawyer. Asking professionals to leave private practice to take a full time position in order to save costs sounds great in theory. But it is potentially a career suicide move for any lawyer. Likely candidates for the position will not likely be the best qualified lawyers.

"Reverend Jeffrey Stallworth,"

Just curious - are all convicted sex offenders referred to as "Reverend"?

I hope the detailed descriptions were left out for the sake of confidentiality. We see government agencies routinely receive bills that only have the level of detail that these have - identifying only the person, the general matter, the hours and the rate. This leaves no room for accountability and generally indicates (or at leaves wide open the potential for) redundancy, waste and over-billing. I believe that if these represent the entire bills submitted, the absence of detail is equally telling as the overstaffing.

This is ridiculous! Hope the Clarion Ledger picks up this story and runs with it. Thanks, Kingfish, for sniffing this out.

Looting of the system didn't start when the democrats and blacks took over Jackson. They learned by observation for many years. Its simply their turn now.

Doesn't pass the smell test, does it?

9:18. No, they're usually referred to as Congressman or Senator.

Either the board is in on this, and gives work to their cronies, or they are too stupid to realized they are being fleeced. Either way they should be gone.

Looting of the system didn't start when the democrats and blacks took over Jackson. They learned by observation for many years. Its simply their turn now.

The "blacks" in Jackson may be taking their turn now but the Democrats have been at the core of the corruption since 1890.

Just to be clear, approximately what amount of money is being paid to all law firms involved for simply attending board meetings each month??

John May attended Millsaps for undergrad, received his JD at Duke and his MBA at Harvard (almost all over a quarter of a century ago).

Can anyone here better those credentials?

I certainly can't.

Yup.

Wayne Ferrell.

The element of surprise and logic over such as this was lost on me years ago.

Detailed time entries are attorney-client privileged.

9:42
I find your attitude about the looting of the taxpayers money repugnant. Democrat, Republican, white, black, yellow or red, anyone looting money should be held accountable and prosecuted. It's (notice the apostrophe in the contraction of "it is")cavalier attitudes about theft, like yours, that enable the thieves to thrive.

I only see one problem, Baker Donelson isn't a "minority" law firm.

Good to know about John May....very impressive. Thanks

Palisades. Interest rate swaps. bonds. Larry Summers.

Oh Kingfish the name dropper. Wayne is a distinguished former military and current private pilot who does aerospace plaintiff's work. He himself would tell you that he would have no interest or qualifications to do 'board work.'

He also wouldn't do anything for $200k/yr.......

Agreed. Just discussing professional qualifications. I'm not as easily impressed by academic credentials as I am by experience.

Fees are high so much can be kicked back to the many officials from DC on down to the commission level.

10:55
taxpayer's money. Notice the apostrophe. Pot-Kettle.

I agree with having a well compensated staff attorney at the ready. All of the research and ancillary expenses can be greatly reduced with a full-time lawyer who has organizational and institutional knowledge of matters coming before the board. At best this is wasteful, at worse it is criminal.

Now I know why I have to pay exorbitant fees to park...

The Desoto County School Board realized it was paying a great deal of money to an outside law firm SO it hired the lawyer and took him in-house. From what I can tell, it has worked pretty well for him.

I will say one thing. I've yet to hear all three sets of lawyers say "let me go ask the AG". THat was a common statement made by the previous two Hinds County Board attorneys whenever a regular legal question arose.

I know that I can't lift a finger unless it's expressly stated in my contract or statement of work - these should be public record, correct?

That in-house lawyer thing has not worked well in Flowood!

The undergrad from Millsaps is next to useless.

12:23 PM

Without the undergrad from anywhere there is no JD or MBA, so useless would be incorrect.

My undergrad is from MSU, so it's not a Millsaps thing.

Now someone's hating on Millsaps? Someone is more desperate for attention than any other of the shoal of trolls following in KF's wake. So, I'm giving you attention. Lap it up. Off the floor.

In this context, how might an undergraduate degree from Millsaps compare with one from, say, Jackson State? Of course either one would suffice as a prerequisite for law school, but, when it comes down to the lick-log and a hiring authority is reviewing a resume.....well, you see where this is going.

That stuff is wallpaper.

Show me what you can do.

Pure minority hand-outs, much like putting in current head of airport despite stellar record of his white precessor. Shameless.

It would be interesting to see the A&E firm invoicing related to the various infrastructure/construction projects referenced in these invoices. I'm sure the JMAA is getting fleeced by those fees as well. And, I'm sure we'd see a lot of familiar firm names...

That's peanuts. You should see what Charbonnet and Associates did to the JMAA back in the 2000's. They did environmental work and other studies up until Melton was elected.

Here, my friends, is an example of typical minority handouts. These airport folks have run it in the ground (lost Southwest) & continue to run it in the ground. I fly all around the US for my work. I rarely fly into or out of a smaller airport than JAX. However, no where can you wait longer for luggage, screening, etc. The airport is a terrible first example of our city and our state. Thanks my friends for running a shitty airport.

Oh really?

Dirk was black? I must've missed that one.

Then there are the Baker Donelson fees. It seems they are higher than what is charged by the Bennie crowd or did you miss that one?

I don't know what they could have done to keep Southwest short of paying Southwest to stay. The numbers didn't work for the airline. Read that BR Business Report story as well as the one I posted from the WSJ. This is a problem Tier 2 and 3 cities are facing.

I will bet that there aren't three different A&E firms working on a project at the same time, 4:35, as there are three different sets of lawyers - unless of course the 'set-aside' programs of the city require one to be on board just to get paid. And the A&E doesn't get to charge by the hour for 'attending' the board meetings.

Not taking up for A's or E's, but recognize that if there is construction gong on at the airport, there is a need for an A&E. There is a need for a lawyer, but I don't see how there is a need for three different firms - unless of course it is for one to do the work and the others to make the room look proper.

Don't know that you can compare current three group arrangement to previous single attorney without knowing what issues were going on at the time (construction projects, litigation, etc.)

But all this pales in comparison to our state's Atty General office. He has an office full of career attorneys, but has to hire outside attorneys to do the work that can attach heavy contingency fees. The BP settlement that he is bragging about in his current TV barrage of ads is a great example. In order to 'sit in on the negotiations' he had to hire outside help. So what experience did he not have in house? The former - his protege - Atty General, Honorable?? Mike Moore. Makes this wasteful spending at JMAA look like peanuts.

6:26 - The idea that the AG's office has a deep bench of competent attorneys is a joke. Nobody goes to law school hoping to become a staff attorney working for the attorney general. It's the dumbest of the dumb who have washed out from private practice. So, it's understandable he would need to bring in outside help to win big cases. I do agree that the ridiculous contingency fees his friends get when he engages them to take this work are bullshit.

7:27, I disagree, while the AGO may have more that its fair share of ne'er-do-wells, there are a few I've worked with who show real drive, ambition and talent. I agree wholeheartedly that the contingency fee issue is a problem, while Hood barks about the gross settlement amount, he rarely says "hey, and it only cost us XX%." Yet, we gladly settle for the table scraps every time one of these guys goes on a crusade.

7:27, those are strong words. Why don't you own them with your name?

I really don't understand how difficult representing the Jackson Airport could be - what a ripoff. With respect to the difficulty of the legal work, I fail to see how it could be any more difficult than working in the AG's office. THe difference between the two groups of lawyers is probably less a difference of intellect than a difference of salesmanship and the ability to network - yawn.

7:27 has no clue. There are lots of smart, capable lawyers who would take a pay cut to get off the treadmill of scraping for business. Especially in a contracting market like Mississippi. When firms like Baker Donelson lose steady business like JMAA, you get a buyers market for high-quality mid-level and senior associates who'd love to go in-house, even if the employer is a political entity.

No, Kingfish, Dirk was not black, but he was employed at the will and pleasure of a totally black airport board of directors.

If Baker Donelson lost the JMAA contract in 2013 why is it still billing the JMAA in 2015? And why are Baker Donelson's fees much higher than the other two firms? These are questions none of the other posters want to address. I wonder why?

7:19; Go ahead and say it.....Because they are not nearly as astute as you.

7:19 It's because the posters here only know to hate Butler Snow, the legal front for Wizard Haley, orchestrates of Dan Jones' doom, likely purveyors of MDA deals gone wrong and architects of an office building so unlike its surroundings it's visible from space. Meanwhile, Baker Donaldson gets a free pass from this group for anchoring The District at Eastover....no matter how similarly uninspiring their new digs on 55 appear.

Yes, and previous all-black boards hired Baker Donelson as well.

I just saw a Jackson Airport SUV parked at the gate to a subdivision on Hoy Road in Madison. Maybe they were delivering lost luggage. But, maybe not, since the airline does that.

So who will Butler Snow select to be the next OM Chancellor?

Are Chancellors allowed by law to keep an office on K Street and Highland Colony?

To comment I didn't approve. That is literally the first time I have ever heard of that name. Ever. Shoot me an email at kingfish1935@gmail.com. Thanks. Have no clue what you are talking about.

Uncle Bennie always takes care of his own. Who does surprise.

What Chancellor has an office on Highland Colony Parkway? But, if one did, what 'law' do you suppose would address that? Ole Miss doesn't HAVE a chancellor. They don't even have a mascot. State's chancellor has his office in Starkpatch and Southern's new guy is officed down in Hattiesburg. I suspect J-State's chancellor has his desk on campus (maybe both of them) and that about wraps it up.

Notice that none of the media picked up this story and ran with it. Also notice that despite tweeting tons of fluff alld day long, no local reporters could seem to find the time to tweet this story even though they constantly tweet stories from other news organizations.