The following letter was sent to the Editor of every newspaper in Alabama by Beasley Allen Founding Shareholder Jere L. Beasley. The letter helps clarify the State of Alabama's position regarding the recent Supreme Court ruling on its Medicaid Fraud verdicts and pending litigation. This letter serves as a necessary and important counterpoint to previously published Letters to the Editor addressing the same subject.

A report by Reuters news service says Regions Financial Corp. CEO Dowd Ritter is open to "any and all" possibilities to raise capital in order to repay the U.S. goverment for the bailout money it loaned the institution. Regions, based in Birmingham, Ala., received $3.5 million in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. However, despite this pledge, it is unclear whether Region's troubled brokerage arm, Morgan Keegan, is on the table.

Our firm has recently settled three significant FLSA cases on a class wide (collective action) basis, providing employees of those companies with back wages that they were wrongfully denied as a result of labor abuses. While each company's labor violations differed slightly, each involved a common theme we continue to see in these labor abuse cases. That common theme is where employers intentionally misclassify employees as managers and independent contractors in order to escape paying overtime pay.

A recent report in the Memphis Business Journal predicts Regions Financial Corp. will hold onto its Morgan Keegan investment arm, despite a number of lawsuits filed in the past year as a result of alleged investment fraud, and more pending. Lawsuits content that risky funds brokered by Regions Morgan Keegan tied to the subprime lending market were represented to investors as low-risk. As a result, the suits allege, individuals and organizations invested in the funds suffered significant financial losses, almost overnight, when the mortgage market collapsed.

Last week, we told you about a lawsuit filed by Minnesota's attorney general against the nation's largest arbitration company. The suit, filed July 14, 2009, in Hennepin County District Court by Attorney General Lori Swanson against the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) of Minnesota, alleged "consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising." On July 19, Swanson announced that the NAF had agreed it would no longer arbitrate any cases between consumers and businesses.

On July 14, 2009, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson filed a lawsuit against the National Arbitration Forum of Minnesota, the nation's largest arbitration company for consumer credit disputes, alleging "consumer fraud, deceptive trade practices, and false advertising." The lawsuit was filed in Hennepin County District Court.

Today Alabama's Attorney General Troy King announced an additional $89 million in settlements in ongoing litigation against a total of 72 pharmaceutical companies accused of defrauding the state's Medicaid system by overcharging for drugs. Beasley Allen is representing the state in the Average Wholesale Price (AWP) litigation, and has already secured settlements totaling $34.75 million and jury verdicts of more than $352.4 million against pharmaceutical company defendants.

MONTGOMERY, ALA. - (February 24, 2009) A jury in Montgomery County Circuit Court returned a verdict in favor of the State of Alabama today, finding drug manufacturer Sandoz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., guilty of defrauding the Medicaid system. The jury ordered the company to pay $78.4 million, including $28.4 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages. The verdict is significant because German-based Sandoz, a subsidiary of Novartis, manufactures and markets generic drugs.

Although she will never benefit from the new legislation expected to be signed into law tomorrow by President Barack Obama, Lilly Ledbetter of Jacksonville, Ala., is proud of the difference she's making in the lives of other hard working folks. The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which is the first significant legislation passed by the new Congress, will change the law regarding eligibility in filing for wage discrimination.

Beasley Allen is currently reviewing Tremont Investment claims on behalf of institutional investors. These cases involve alleged securities fraud and include as defendants Tremont Group Holdings, Inc.; Tremont Partners, Inc.; Rye Investment Management, Oppenheimer Acquisition Corporation, Oppenheimer Funds, Inc.; Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, and KPMG, L.L.P.