Baker Donelson Firm to Pay Nothing Over Timber Fraud, Jury Says

Law firm Baker Donelson doesn’t have to shell out for investor losses in a timber harvesting Ponzi scheme through its relationship to an attorney and a lobbyist it employed in Jackson, Miss., a jury said late Wednesday.

The court-appointed receiver suing over the losses showed negligent supervision by the firm and liability on the part of the two ex-employees for aiding and abetting the scheme, the jury found. However, the firm and employees don’t have to pay damages because the receiver failed to mitigate $10 million of the victims’ losses by going after “net winner” investors, the jury said.

The ...