April 30, 2007 | Posted By David Rossmiller
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Sen. Trent Lott settles lawsuit against State Farm

It's always fun to write about Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, so I guess I'm a little disappointed he's not going to trial in his Katrina lawsuit against State Farm.  This story by Mike Kunzelman of the Associated Press says he and State Farm have settled.  The terms were not disclosed.  Coincidentally, I checked the docket in Lott's case late last week to see if anything was going on in the case, and noticed that Magistrate Judge Robert Walker considered Lott's motion to unseal deposition transcripts where State Farm employees had taken the Fifth, and denied it in part.  The depositions in question were taken in another case, McFarland v. State Farm. Here's a pdf of the order.  Judge Walker said where that in any case where the witnesses had invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, the depositions would remain sealed.  In any cases where they had not invoked the Fifth, however, the transcripts could be unsealed. 
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Written By:Layne On April 30, 2007 2:50 PM

I would be curious to know how closely this settlement resembles the settlement negotiated between the Mississippi Insurance Commisioner and State Farm. The one that was derided by the Scruggs group as being unfair.

If I had to guess, I would imagine that this agreement is pretty similar to the other. Alas, the terms are sealed and we'll never know.

You could be sure that Lott wouldn't settle for less. But, if he got a better deal, you can be just as sure that he wouldn't let it get out. He couldn't be the champion of the "little guy" if he got a better shake than the rest of the "little guys" could he?

Written By:David Rossmiller On April 30, 2007 3:35 PM

If I'm remembering correctly, Lott was in the group of slab cases that State Farm settled earlier, before the class action thing fell apart, but Lott hadn't decided whether to accept the settlement or not.

Written By:Layne On April 30, 2007 8:49 PM

My mistake, you are correct. So then, are we safe in assuming that the terms of his settlement resemble the other/previous slab cases?

Written By:David Rossmiller On May 1, 2007 5:25 AM

Those would certainly be the parameters, Lott's house, I think, was more expensive than most others at issue, so that might have something to do with the size of the settlement.

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