A powerful Mississippi lawyer charged with trying to bribe a judge is seeking to block State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. from questioning him under oath for one of the hundreds of lawsuits his firm filed against the insurer after Hurricane Katrina.

Last month, a federal magistrate ruled that attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs can be questioned about his work with two sisters who gave him reams of internal State Farm records while they were helping the company adjust Katrina claims.