Poultry Farmers Claim Law Firm Engaged In Racketeering

OKLAHOMA CITY - A group of Arkansas poultry farmers claim the law firm that represented the city of Tulsa in a 2001 lawsuit against poultry companies engaged in racketeering.

Farmers Bryan Wilkins, Reuben Barnes, Robert Wilkins and Mary Wilkins filed a racketeering lawsuit Friday in US District Court in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The lawsuit alleges attorney Kenneth McKinney and the law firm McKinney and Stringer caused them monetary losses and lost business opportunities. The suit asks the court for McKinney to pay compensation of three times the amount they lost, and requests a trial by jury.

McKinney represented Tulsa in the 2001 lawsuit that resulted in a $7.5-million settlement. The law firm received all but $200,000 of the settlement.

McKinney says he hasn't seen the lawsuit and will not comment.

Source: Associated Press via KOTV

11 July 2005