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• The Legal Trail in a Delta Drama  

A former Mississippi state auditor, Steven A. Patterson, stood before a rapt courtroom and pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy. Prosecutors said he had worked with Richard Scruggs, arguably the country’s best-known plaintiff’s lawyer, to bribe a local judge to rule in Mr. Scruggs’s favor in a fee battle with another lawyer.

Mr. Patterson’s plea — and his agreement to cooperate with prosecutors — significantly ratchets up the pressure on Mr. Scruggs, who was indicted on federal conspiracy and bribery charges in November. . . .

Indeed, prosecutors plan to cite the political influence brought to bear by Mr. Scruggs, who once boasted that lawsuits are “won on the back roads long before the case goes to trial,” when his own trial begins on March 31.

Rather than courtroom victories against the tobacco makers, legal experts say, it was Mr. Scruggs’s ability to put together a coalition of state officials and Washington politicians, while adeptly courting the news media, that ultimately forced cigarette makers to pay up in the landmark $248 billion national settlement.

Mr. Scruggs declined to comment for this article. But his lead defense lawyer, John Keker, says Mr. Scruggs was unaware of any bribery attempts and is completely innocent.

Now, the fate of Mr. Scruggs is being watched closely by advocates of tort reform as well as lawyers and industry leaders, who have all found themselves in his cross hairs over the last two decades. “He stands for the proposition that the halls of justice can become the arena for pressing public policy goals,” says David M. Bernick, a partner at the firm Kirkland & Ellis, who has represented the tobacco industry. “People want to know the reality of how he came to be so influential.”

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