this is united states district court judge f a "pappy" little jr.
he is retiring from the federal bench to become chief judge of the coushatta tribe of indians who so happen to own a casino.
judge little was appointed in 1984 by president ronald reagan.
prior to being appointed to the federal bench judge little was the president of the gold weems law firm.
the louisiana secretary of state website at one time listed the incorporators of the gold weems law firm as f a little jr and c s weems iii.
the gold law firm sued a former client dr tommy mack granger for non payment of attorney fees and in order to avoid a jury trial reduced the amount of their demand.
meanwhile, numerous former clients of the gold weems law firm filed complaints to the louisiana attorney disciplinary board alledging among other things by the gold weems law firm and attorney j ogden middleton ii (a former lawyer at gold weems) for overbilling and fraud of epic proportions. as of this date the louisiana attorney disciplinary board has taken no action on the complaints.
a hearing in the gold v granger lawsuit was held at alexandria, rapides parish, louisiana in may 2005 and gold weems lap poodle ninth judicial district court judge harry randow tried to cover the whole thing up by closing the courtroom to the public and issuing an order barring local media from reporting about the complaints. see Court backs Town Talk in trial-secrecy case. "judge" randow even went so far as to bar a local newspaper the alexandria daily town talk from discussing his order with their own attorneys.
six days later the 3rd circuit court of appeal vacates "judge" randow's scandalous order.
now, the gold weems firm is being sued and the plaintiff's are seeking to make the suit a class action suit due to what they alledge is gold weems pattern of fraud and abuse involving overbilling and fraud of epic proportions.
this is what the national legal and policy center - legal services accountability project in their 15 july 1997 issue no.58 reported judge little 1995 reaction was to another law firms attempt to overbill their clients::
Judge Scolds Legal Services Lawyers for Padding Bill
In 1995, a federal judge strongly condemned two lawyers with Kisatchie Legal Services for grossly inflating their attorneys' fees for work done on a minor disability claims case. After winning a decision awarding their client Social Security benefits, Kisatchie attorneys Gladney and Coco submitted a request for attorneys’ fees totaling $8805: $4230 for Gladney and $4575 for Coco. The requested fees gave great offense.
Warning that lawyers should not “tell lies to a judge,” U.S. District Court Judge F.A. Little lambasted Coco and Gladney for padding their legal bill with duplicative or virtually non-existent work. In particular, Judge Little why wondered why the lawyers needed a full half hour to read five and seven line documents or four hours to review briefs of only a dozen lines.
Little was also struck by the fact that one lawyer said he spent 24 minutes on a simple motion while the other said he spent four hours on the same task days earlier. Angered by their "lack of professionalism,” Little reduced the fee award by more than half to $3000. Little also said he would consider "the imposition of sanctions” for legal services unethical behavior.
See Green v. Shalala, 888 F. Supp. 62, US Dist. Ct., 1995
