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<copyright>Copyright 2008</copyright>
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<title>Judge Unseals Katrina damage qui tam Lawsuit</title>
<description><![CDATA[<p>It is heating up in Gulfport, Mississippi. Yesterday, According to an Associated Press article on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/06/ap3992001.html">Forbes</a>, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Walker,&nbsp;ordered a whistleblower case to&nbsp;be&nbsp;unsealed, even though the federal government had argued against it. The Federal government was deciding on whether or not&nbsp;to intervene in the qui tam&nbsp;lawsuit accusing&nbsp;insurance companies of overbilling the federal government for flood damage from Hurricane Katrina. </p>
<p>U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Walker said, &quot;The government gives no explanation for how the investigation would be compromised by unsealing the case&quot;.</p>
<p>It is also important to mention that this case has a twist. The Attorney for the whistleblowers, sisters, Cori and Kerri Rigsby, struck a cord with&nbsp;U.S. District Judge William Acker.&nbsp;The Judge ruled in June that the law firm&nbsp;&quot;willfully violated&quot; a court order requiring him to return all of the documents that the Rigsby secretly copied. A writer could not make up a story so interesting as this. A prominent Attorney that fights fraud against the government, being accused of criminal charges, while&nbsp;trying to represent his client in a whistleblower claim. I can see this as a basis for a future best seller&nbsp; from the great John Grisham. This is good foundation material for a juicy novel. The ironic twist for this story is that it will be based on truth.</p>
<p>The saga between&nbsp;State Farm&nbsp; Insurance,&nbsp;the whistleblower sisters, Cori and Kerri Rigsby and their valiant lawyer, Richard &quot;Dickie&quot; Scruggs, who dared to take on the major Katrina insurance carriers is bound to heat up even more. The lingering question is, Will this qui tam claim&nbsp;be prosecuted&nbsp;with the government's intervention or&nbsp;will the it be prosecuted on its own?&nbsp; Stay tuned, for more details.</p>
<p>Thanks to the <a href="http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/tortsprof/2007/08/judge-unseals-k.html">Torts Prof Blog</a>, edited by Professor <a href="http://www1.law.wnec.edu/faculty/index.cfm?selection=doc.1159">William G. Childs</a> and Professor <a href="http://www.charlestonlaw.org/faculty/scheuerman.htm">Sheila B. Scheuerman </a>for the recent blog post on&nbsp;this new revelation.&nbsp; <br />
<br />
Click here to read more on this article from <a href="http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/06/ap3992001.html">Forbes</a>.<br />
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<category>Cori and Kerri Rigsby</category><category>Dickie&quot;</category><category>Hurricane Katrina</category><category>John Grisham</category><category>Judge Robet Walker</category><category>Judge William Acker</category><category>Katrina Insurance</category><category>Qui tam Legal News</category><category>Richard</category><category>Scruggs&quot;</category>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Aug 2007 09:40:12 -0500</pubDate>
<author>Juliet@LaBovick.com (LaBovick Law)</author>

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