they want another choice, even at this stage in the game. it s really unbelievable. that there is a real opening for it. haley was thinking about doing it, but decided not to. you know what s so interesting about the fall of dickie scruggs, when you would go to lawyer conventions, he would be around. but the other lawyers. he always hurt the other lawyers. he was, he carried himself in a way that man of distinction and look, he was a dashing guy. great looking guy. very dashing, but he always considered himself socially a step above a lot of the rough and tumble trial lawyers. and that, i think, is at the core of the story that makes it so compelling that you have this guy in terms of the human condition. this guy who at one stage in his life and career, there has to be invinceability he s feeling, and never sees or senses the danger that s coming down the tracks at
is about white collar crime. it s about the politics of mississippi, which it probably not unlike northern florida, everybody knows everybody. there are a lot of fixes that go on. the paper back i ve got a new chapter to try to bring it up to date. the story s still playing out. dick s in prison now, dozens of others are out. you re talking about it. there is a lot of this in the south, certainly not up in boston. as barnicle can tell you, pure as driven snow in boston. i spent my time in boston. you know. but dickie scruggs, though, wasn t just a two-bit player. that s what makes this so fascinating. he was at the center of everything. the democratic party, trent lott, the republican party he was a fraternity brother of haley barbour at ole miss.
democrat. and probably none of the contributions ever trickled your way. but he basically propped up the democratic party in mississippi. he was a very powerful influential trial lawyer, he got hundreds of millions from tobacco. and by the way, one of the reasons he did so well is he owned the legislature, owned the politicians, and mississippi had some of the most lax tort reform law in america. that was the place i know because i worked with trial lawyers for a few years, everybody wanted to get to mississippi because the rules were slanted in dickie scruggs favor. it was so bad that it made the trial lawyers look bad. but dickie ultimately got ensnared by a federal investigation and questions of entrapment. that s not to say he s innocent
anywhere. but here s the scene i love. oxford, mississippi, one of the most charming towns. town square, dickie scruggs, this larger than life figure has got his office on the second floor across the square from his chief rival, right? oh, exactly, yeah. and they re all on the terrace watching dickie scruggs being taken down by a judge. did they indict him at the grove? well, came close. good. you know about the grove. that s sacreligious. i think i m going to have to come down for the alabama game. you re welcome. i want barnicle to to. too. he knows i dress up. exactly. thank you. show a little respect. thank you. when is johnny going to return? we re ready to bring him back