Unlawful surveillance and recording of attorney Burt Newsome and his family could lead to $13-billion lawsuit against Southern Company and its associates

Burt Newsome and family

A prominent law firm, an insurance company, and a private-investigations company were defendants in a personal-injury lawsuit that recently settled for $11 million. That's a lot of money for regular folks, but it is relative pocket change compared to what came next in the case.

Once allegations of unlawful recording and surveillance surfaced, the plaintiff filed a modified complaint, seeking $13.1 billion in punitive damages, plus attorney fees. Zowie! And yes, that is billion with a "b".

Details from that case can be found at this link.  It was filed in Georgia in 2021 and was settled in May of this year (2023).

Meanwhile, a similar case is brewing in Birmingham, with similar allegations of unlawful conduct -- plus a demand for a similar amount in damages. Banbalch.com reports that Birmingham-area attorney Burt Newsome has gathered a team of lawyers to put the "final touches" on such a complaint, and the list of possible defendants includes notable names -- Atlanta-based Southern Company (the nation's second largest utility), its Alabama Power subsidiary, the Balch & Bingham law firm of Birmingham, the White Arnold & Dowd law firm of Birmingham, the Matrix LLC consulting firm of Montgomery (and its founder/owner, Joe Perkins), and Alabama Political Reporter (APR).

Newsome had engaged in courtroom battle with a number of the entities and related individuals noted above. And we haven't even mentioned a mysterious head-on vehicle crash that showed signs of being staged and left Newsome with a badly broken right leg that required hours of surgery at UAB.

Burt Newsome vehicle crash

What factual allegations might be involved in a Newsome lawsuit? K.B. Forbes, publisher of the Ban Balch blog and CEO of its parent organization -- the CDLU public charity and advocacy group -- provides background, under the headline "Baker Donelson, AmFam Sued for $13.1 Billion Over Illegal Surveillance; Is Southern Company Next? Writes Forbes:

A headline story at Law.com rocked the legal community in 2021. A respected law firm came under fire for conducting illegal surveillance and video recording of a woman and her family. Law.com reported:

A respected law firm is under fire for conducting illegal surveillance and video recording of a woman and her family. Law.com reports:

The long-lived, knotty personal injury case that … ultimately settled for $11 million has spun off yet more litigation, with a new complaint accusing Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, American Family Insurance and a local private investigation company of illegally surveilling and video-recording the plaintiff and her family.

Fittingly, the new complaint seeks big money: more than $13.1 billion and change in punitive damages. Plus attorney fees.

How do the factual allegations in the Baker Donelson case compare to those that likely would form the basis for a complaint involving Newsome, his family, and any possible co-defendants? Forbes reports that allegations in the Newsome matter are significantly worse -- and more disturbing:

The allegations in the Baker lawsuit are minimal compared to the illegal surveillance, alleged criminal acts, and campaign of fear and intimidation orchestrated by Southern Company and its paid stooges against us, the CDLU; the Newsome family; and the Forbes family.

In June, Southern Company admitted that it paid for and conducted a surveillance effort against its own chairman, Tom Fanning, and his then-girlfriend in 2017.

Company officials foolishly told The Wall Street Journal they did not know who authorized the surveillance effort, or for what purpose.

Like AmFam, Southern Company apparently targeted young children.

Southern Company paid a vendor to target and harass the Newsome Family, including Newsome’s four young children.

Jeff Peoples, chief executive officer at Alabama Power, signed off on an “extra work authorization” in 2018, paying obscure political consultant “Sloppy” Joe Perkins an additional $39,300 on top of the secret multi-million-dollar annual contracts his firm received.

And what was the $39,300 allegedly for? For “transportation organization management” according to the document, but a blatant lie, Southern Company insiders confirmed.

Besides sending a threatening package of travel bags and outfits, Southern Company stooges conducted a surveillance effort against Newsome, his wife, and children.

The Newsomes were followed, spied on, and trailed throughout Birmingham, including to a point where Newsome’s wife saw her car broken into and windows smashed, in a targeted smash-and-run.

A Southern Company goon verbally abused Newsome’s wife at one point.

A stolen credit card obtained from the break-in of Newsome’s wife's vehicle was used in the purchase of the travel bags and outfits.

Individuals at Alabama Power reportedly were involved in the various schemes targeting Newsome, his family, and associates, Forbes writes:

Zeke Smith, Alabama Power executive vice president for external affairs, authorized more than $318,000 in expenditures during a seven-week period in the summer of 2020 for a campaign of fear and intimidation against the Newsome and Forbes families, according to anonymously received documents.

K.B. Forbes, CDLU’s Chief Executive Officer, and his wife and two young daughters were targeted.

The campaign included surveillance and harassment efforts of the Forbes Family.

The terror and harassment included multiple phone calls to Forbes’ wife, one demanding to know her location, another asking if she was at home, and a third offering to “drop off a package.”

Foolishly, brain amputee Josh Moon, a disgraced former journalist and failed realtor, showed up at CDLU’s then-headquarters, demanding information, and providing a false name and cell-phone number, one digit off from his real cell number (what an idiot!).

Moon and his colleagues at Alabama Political Reporter were paid $120,000 by Southern Company and authorized by Zeke Smith to viciously attack and harass us, the CDLU; the Newsome family; and the Forbes family.

Moon apparently was surveilling our headquarters and allegedly drove in front of the Forbes household, where a pick-up truck matching his truck’s description was captured on security cameras.

A judge refused to dismiss the case against Baker Donelson in April of 2022 and it was resolved and settled in May of this year.

In the lawsuit against Baker Donelson and AmFam, the complaint states:

[The] Baker Donelson Defendants and the AmFam Defendants hired, retained, paid, directed, instructed, and supervised the Martinelli Investigations Defendants in an unlawful investigation and unlawful surveillance of Plaintiff and subsequently ratified the criminal and tortious conduct….

Southern Company and its affiliates have been riddled with scandal -- accounting fraud, racketeering, payment of hush money, falsification of construction records, mismanagement, and more -- in recent years. A Newsome lawsuit likely would open a window on activities that might invite unwelcome scrutiny of the company's ugly inner workings -- leaving a shocking and disturbing image for its customers and the public at large. Writes Forbes:

One thing Southern Company unequivocally knows is that its executives (Mark Crosswhite, Jeff Peoples, Zeke Smith, etc.) hired, retained, paid, directed, instructed, and supervised Matrix, Balch & Bingham, Joe Perkins, Mark White, and others to allegedly investigate, harass, intimidate, and engage in surveillance of Newsome, Forbes, and the CDLU.

Sources claim Newsome’s legal team is putting the final touches on a somewhat similar pleading, preparing to move ahead with a massive lawsuit against Southern Company, Matrix, LLC, and their other stooges, asking for similar damages.