Jackson Jambalaya

 Collection of all posts about Lamar Adams case.

The SEC and Butler Snow settled for $9.5 million in the Lamar Adams case.  SEC Receiver Allyson Mills submitted a motion for settlement to U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves on January 11.  The settlement agreement and motion are posted below. 

The agreement states Lord Snow denies "any wrongdoing."   The powerhouse Ridgeland law firm must pay the settlement within ten days of the effective date.   The agreement bars any parties from suing Lord Snow for any damages arising out of the Lamar Adams case.  The Receiver will dismiss all claims against the firm within ten days after payment is made in full. 

Judge Reeves scheduled a hearing on the settlement motion for February 23 at 1:30 PM.  Interested parties must submit comments to the Court at least five days prior to the hearing.

Synopsis of Case

The SEC is trying to claw back illegal profits earned by Lamar Adams and  promoters of a $164 million Ponzi scheme based on phony timber investments.   Receiver Alysson Mills represents the SEC in recovering assets for later distribution to the victims.  Her efforts include suing promoters who received commissions as well as the Butler Snow and Baker Donelson law firms.  Adams is incarcerated in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Receiver Alysson Mills sued Butler Snow, Butler Snow Business Advisory Division President Matt Thornton, and Baker Donelson in U.S. District Court on December 19, 2018 to recover commissions paid to them in the Lamar Adams timber fraud case. The complaint charges employees at both law firms worked with Lamar Adams to sell phony timber investments to firm clients. 

The complaint states Adams and Pinnacle Trust formed the Madison Timber Fund, LLC. It sought to raise $10 million through the sale of 100 shares at a share price of $100,000. Butler Snow lawyers worked with Adams on the PPM. However, the PPM did not attract any investors.

Butler Snow created an Advisory Services division that would provide “non-legal business advice” in 2011.  Mike Billings joined Lord Snow in 2012 as a “strategic advisor.”   Ms. Mills said Billings gave strategic advice to Madison Timber as the company sought to raise $30-$50 million.  Thornton allegedly "alerted" senior partners Don and Barry Cannada about the new business.  Adams paid BSAS $3,500 per month for 17 months.  Thornton and Billings looked for clients to purchase timber shares. They created a list of over thirty local individuals and families as prospects. Many people on the list purchased the phony timber shares.

The complaint stated Lord Snow lawyers created a PPM in February 2013 that sought to raise $100 million by selling $1,000 shares at a price of $100,000 per share. Lord Snow moved up from local yokels and began to pitch the shares to larger, institutional investors. Unfortunately (sarcasm) for Team Thornton, the PPM fell flat but there was a timber lining in the cloud of failure as many of the prospects invested in “standing tracts” of timber land. Adams delivered commission checks for each sale to Lord Snow.

The Receiver accused Butler Snow, Billings, and Thornton, of acting as "unlicensed brokers, in violation of state and federal law."  No one ever registered with the SEC as the promissory notes were sold and commission checks were delivered.  Ms. Mills aimed her complaint squarely at Barry Cannada:

Butler Snow knew or should have known what it was doing was unlawful. Among the notes in Butler Snow’s Madison Timber files is this comment from Don Cannada in 2009: “Very broad definition of what a broker is . . . Includes one who for a commission procures a purchaser or prospect etc. See 73-35-31 for penalties. Says you can’t pay an unlicensed broker, but doesn’t provide any penalty if you do so.”

Billings was making so much money off of the timber scheme that he left Lord Snow in December 2013 and began working directly for Lamar Adams. Adams stopped paying the $3,500 monthly retainer fee to Lord Snow. However, Adams engaged Lord Snow to assist him in other projects such as the Oxford Springs development in North Mississippi. The complaint makes it clear that Adams enjoyed the full range of Lord Snow’s diverse offerings: legal services, business advice, and lobbying. Butler Snow, in true Shylock fashion, continued to bill Adams for services rendered after he was caught. Lord Snow finally terminated the relationship on May 11 – two days after he pleaded guilty and 11 days after he was indicted.

Billings settled for $800,000.  

Kingfish note: Billings must have been broke because he held a yard sale in 2020 where he sold many of his prized, worldly possessions, including some fancy slippers. 

Posted below: Order  setting hearing to approve settlement, motion for settlement, settlement agreement.