Judge Senter rules against State Farm motion to disqualify Dickie Scruggs from Katrina cases

Judge Senter ruled yesterday that State Farm waited too long to object to allegedly unethical conduct of attorney Dickie Scruggs, and denied the insurer's motion to disqualify Scruggs, his law firm and other attorneys in the Scruggs Katrina Group from representing policyholders against State Farm in about 170 pending cases. Here is a pdf of Judge Senter's order, typically brief, to the point and well-written. I wish more judges wrote like him.Here's a key part of the judge's ruling:A motion to disqualify should be filed at the earliest practical opportunity. It is not permissible to hold this right to relief in reserve in order to assert the right at a tactically advantageous time and thereby put an opponent at an unfair disadvantage . . . . I am of the opinion that regardless of the m