About
Dickie Scruggs was the lead counsel behind the historic 1990s tobacco litigation, which produced settlements worth more than $248 billion and took him to the very top of American law. He later served six years in federal prison.
Today he leads 2nd Chance MS, a Mississippi nonprofit that has helped more than a thousand adults earn the credentials to rebuild their futures. At the 2026 conference he sat down for a fireside conversation with Brent Cassity.
At the White Collar Conference
Dickie Scruggs talked about growing up in Brookhaven and Pascagoula, Mississippi, Navy flight training, and how a juror from a case he lost became his first asbestos client, years before the state tobacco litigation. He described pleading guilty at 62 in the judicial bribery case, the cold reception during his first week at the low-security prison in Ashland, Kentucky, and teaching math in the prison GED program for most of his sentence. He closed with Second Chance Mississippi, the nonprofit he runs with his son Zach, which funds community college students and has helped more than 3,000 of them earn a diploma.
“The worst thing besides being separated from your family about having to go to prison is you lose all sense of purpose.”
Watch at 30:26
“The students are all one flat tire from dropping out again.”
Watch at 33:48
“I hope that my reputation has been redeemed to some degree by this work.”
Watch at 36:15
Chapters
- 0:00 Introducing Dickie Scruggs
- 2:02 Growing up in Brookhaven, Mississippi
- 3:54 Prep school and a new direction
- 6:38 Navy ROTC and flying jets
- 13:46 Law school and the first asbestos case
- 17:18 The tobacco settlement
- 20:06 The case and the plea
- 21:53 Reputation, sentence and arriving in prison
- 24:50 Stigma and acceptance on the compound
- 28:25 Teaching math in the prison GED program
- 31:28 Starting Second Chance Mississippi
- 35:54 Dickie's biggest takeaway
With Brent Cassity
Shared the stage
Join us in fall 2027.
The fourth annual White Collar Conference is planned for fall 2027, virtual on Zoom and open to all.