Tobacco.org

• Philip Morris says no relief owed in suit over light cigarettes 

Lawyers for Philip Morris say that plaintiffs' arguments for reinstating a landmark $10.1 billion judgment arising out of a Madison County, Ill., court have not come close to showing and "cannot show" they meet any of the requirements for relief.

The tobacco company filed its response to attorney Stephen Tillery's petition seeking relief from the Illinois Supreme Court's reversal of Price v. Philip Morris, a lawsuit brought on consumer fraud claims over "Light" cigarette labeling.

The case is now before Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth, who has set a May 22 hearing on Tillery's petition involving the Supreme Court's 2005 decision.

Edwardsville attorney Larry Hepler and Chicago attorneys George Lombardi and Michele Odorizzi of Chicago wrote for Philip Morris that only the Illinois Supreme Court has the power to decide whether the plaintiffs are entitled to relief from the Supreme Court's own ruling reversing former Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron's 2003 judgment.

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Illinois Supreme Court Declines Review of Price Decision 

“Today’s decision is purely procedural and not a decision on the merits,” said Murray Garnick, Altria Client Services senior vice president and associate general counsel, speaking on behalf of PM USA. “The decision simply means that plaintiffs are allowed to present their petition to the trial court. We look forward to presenting our responsive arguments about why state law makes it clear that the plaintiffs cannot re-open this case.”

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Philip Morris Can't Appeal Light Cig Suit: Ill. High Court ($$) 

Illinois' top court on Wednesday rejected Philip Morris USA Inc.'s bid to appeal a decision reviving a class action over the tobacco giant's alleged deceptive marketing of light cigarettes five years after the state's high court threw out a $10 billion verdict in favor of plaintiffs.

The February decision overturned a trial court's ruling that the plaintiffs' appeal of the reversal had been untimely. In its motion for leave to appeal, Philip Morris claimed the trial court had been right, and that what the plaintiffs had touted as “new evidence” in their appeal did not amount to anything worth reviewing.

The Illinois Supreme Court, which had reversed the plaintiffs' landmark victory and ruled in the tobacco maker's favor in December 2005, disagreed this time, and cleared the way for the plaintiffs to appeal.

“Today’s decision is purely procedural, and not a decision on the merits,” said Murray Garnick, senior vice president of litigation and associate general counsel of Philip Morris parent company Altria Client Services.

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Illinois Supreme Court sends Philip Morris back to Madison County  

Philip Morris is back in Madison County.

The lawsuit which resulted in a $10.1 billion verdict against cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris is expected to return to Madison County court after the Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear an appeal by Philip Morris that could have ended the case.

In 2003, then-Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron ruled that consumers were injured when Philip Morris advertised certain cigarettes as "light" and containing "lowered tar and nicotine." At trial, plaintiffs' attorney Stephen Tillery said the company knew Marlboro Lights were not safer and could be more damaging to smokers' health than regular Marlboro Reds cigarettes.

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• Landmark $10 Billion Judgment Against Philip Morris in Korein Tillery Case Wins Support from the Illinois Supreme Court 

The landmark $10.1 billion verdict against cigarette-maker Philip Morris in a lawsuit filed by Korein Tillery won the support of the Illinois Supreme Court today when it refused to hear an appeal by Philip Morris that could have ended the case.

The momentous victory by Korein Tillery in the Illinois Supreme Court effectively reopens the $10.1 billion judgment – one of the largest in United States history – and returns the Price v. Philip Morris case to the trial court in the Third Judicial Circuit Court in Madison County, Illinois, for further proceedings . . .

In opposing Philip Morris’ petition, lead plaintiffs’ attorney Stephen M. Tillery argued that the evidence in the Good case should be applied to the Price case because it proved that “Philip Morris previously prevailed in this matter by advancing an inaccurate version of the historical record that now has been thoroughly rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court and the FTC.” Tillery also pointed out that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had “alleged that cigarette manufacturers (including Philip Morris) and tobacco-related trade organizations violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by engaging in a conspiracy to deceive the American public about, among other things, the purported health benefits from ‘Light’ and ‘low tar’ cigarettes.” Tillery quoted the DOJ allegations that cigarette-makers marketed those cigarettes as safer than regular cigarettes “despite either lacking evidence to substantiate their claims or knowing them to be false.”

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Plaintiffs Notch Legal Win in Ill. Cigarette Suit  

The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for plaintiffs' attorneys to push that a $10.1 billion verdict against cigarette-maker Philip Morris be revived, sending the matter back to the trial court for more hearings.

The court upheld a state appellate court's February ruling that sends the case back to southwestern Illinois' Madison County. A judge there had sided with plaintiffs after a two-month 2003 trial in a class-action lawsuit over Philip Morris' marketing of "light" cigarettes. The state's high court later threw out that verdict.

With the latest ruling, the plaintiffs expect to argue that a favorable 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision may be applied to reinstate the Madison County case.

"The Supreme Court had an opportunity to review the appellate decision but found no basis to do so," Stephen Tillery, the attorney behind the lawsuit, said. "After a long journey through the courts, we believe this decision moves the judgment a step closer toward a final confirmation for the 1.1 million Illinois consumers who were represented in the lawsuit."

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• Ruling sends smoking lawsuit back to court in Madison County 

A lawsuit that produced a $10.1 billion judgment against cigarette-maker Philip Morris is headed back to Madison County circuit court after the Illinois Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to hear the company's appeal of a lower-court ruling that revived the litigation.

In 2003, then-Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron awarded plaintiffs $10.1 billion in compensatory and punitive damages after a two-month trial of a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Illinois smokers.

Plaintiffs represented by St. Louis attorney Stephen Tillery contended that Philip Morris (now Altria Group Inc.) deceived consumers when it advertised that certain of its cigarettes were "light" and contained "lowered tar and nicotine." They said the company knew that Marlboro Lights were not safer than nonlight cigarettes and might even be more dangerous to health. . . .

But the U.S. Supreme Court, in a December 2008 decision, Altria Group Inc. v. Good, found that the FTC did not authorize use of those terms. . . .

In a one-sentence ruling, the state Supreme Court declined on Wednesday to hear the company's appeal of that ruling. Supreme Court spokesman Joe Tybor said Justice Robert R. Thomas did not participate but said he would file a dissent later.

"The Illinois Supreme Court today issued a sound decision in Price v. Philip Morris that we believe charts the way for the circuit court to hear arguments regarding whether these terms were ever authorized by the FTC," Tillery, of the Korein Tillery law firm, said Wednesday. Tillery said the decision could signal a willingness by the state Supreme Court to reconsider its 2005 decision in light of the Good case.

Altria attorney Murray Garnick said the court's reversal of the Madison County judgment still stood. He said the court's decision on Wednesday meant that Ruth would consider the plaintiffs' petition on its merits, not on the time of its filing.

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SHARON PRICE and MICHAEL FRUTH v. PHILIP MORRIS, INC. (PDF) 

Held:

The two-year time limit for filing a petition for relief from judgment under section 2-1401 of the Code of Civil Procedure began to run when the trial court entered its final order on remand from the Illinois Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs in this class action appeal an order dismissing their petition for relief from judgment (735 ILCS 5/2-1401 (West 2006)). They filed their petition under an unusual set of procedural circumstances. They sought relief from a judgment entered after the Illinois Supreme Court reversed a trial court judgment in their favor. At issue is when the two-year time limit for filing petitions for relief from judgment began to run: when the supreme court issued its decision or when the trial court dismissed the plaintiffs' suit pursuant to the supreme court's direction. The trial court agreed with the defendant that the two-year period began to run when the supreme court issued its decision, which made the plaintiffs' petition untimely. The court accordingly dismissed the plaintiffs' petition. We reverse and remand.

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EDITORIAL: The lawsuit that won't stay dead  

Stephen Tillery doesn't like deadlines except when he does.

In 2008, in a suit against computer manufacturer Dell Inc., Tillery filed an appeal challenging Madison County Chief Judge Ann Callis' rule limiting plaintiffs in a class action to a single substitution of a judge, but the Fifth District Court of Appeals dismissed his motion on the grounds that it was filed a day passed the deadline. . . .

So, Tillery's $10 billion, 11-year quest for jackpot justice drags on as his questionable case continues to clog our courts while a trio of kindly judges consider arguments and read case law concerning which deadline is the appropriate deadline and what future deadlines are for filing motions about deadlines and other weighty matters.

This courthouse activity is paid for with your taxpayer dollars for which there are no deadlines.

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• Tillery given fresh start on $10 billion tobacco class action  

Fifth District appeals judges granted Stephen Tillery a fresh start on his $10 billion class action against cigarette maker Philip Morris on Feb. 24.

Presiding Judge Melissa Chapman and Justices Bruce Stewart and James Wexstten ruled that a two year limit didn't run out on Tillery's petition to reopen the case.

Chapman wrote that "we do not believe that the ends of justice would be served if trial courts were unable to grant relief under the unusual circumstances presented here."

Philip Morris claimed the two years started running when the Illinois Supreme Court reversed former circuit judge Nicholas Byron's $10 billion judgment.

Tillery claimed the two years started running when Byron carried out the Supreme Court's order to dismiss the case.

Chapman wrote, "We find little guidance in answering the question before us."

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• Massive tobacco suit gets revived 

EDWARDSVILLE • A lawsuit that led to a $10.1 billion Madison County Circuit Court verdict against tobacco giant Philip Morris — once thought dead after the Illinois Supreme Court overturned it — has been revived by a lower appeals court.

In a ruling Thursday, the 5th District Illinois Court of Appeals cleared the way for the plaintiffs, represented by St. Louis class-action lawyer Stephen Tillery, to argue that a favorable U.S. Supreme Court decision in an unrelated case may be applied to reinstate his case.

Now, the case will likely return to Madison County, where Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron in 2003 ordered the massive damages to smokers in a civil trial over whether Philip Morris violated an Illinois statute in marketing "light" and "low tar" cigarettes as safer. Byron has since retired.

The case quickly became part of Madison County lore.

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Ruling chokes battle against tobacco giant 

The Illinois Supreme Court on Wednesday dealt what is likely to be a decisive blow to St. Louis lawyer Stephen Tillery's efforts to resurrect his overturned $10.1 billion win against cigarette maker Philip Morris.

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Philip Morris counters Tillery's attempt to reopen Price 

Philip Morris USA has countered Stephen Tillery's bid to resurrect a $10 billion class action verdict that Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron awarded in 2003.

On Jan. 15 Philip Morris USA asked Byron's successor, Circuit Judge Dennis Ruth, to dismiss a motion that would reopen claims of Tillery client Sharon Price.

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Tillery takes another swing at reviving 'Price' verdict 

Stephen Tillery of St. Louis persists in pleading for a chance to prove that the Illinois Supreme Court committed an error when it discarded a $10 billion class action verdict he won against cigarette maker Philip Morris USA in 2003.

"Philip Morris initially prevailed in the Illinois Supreme Court by inaccurately representing the facts surrounding the history of tobacco regulation," Tillery wrote in a July 13 brief for the Fifth District appellate court in Mount Vernon.

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Excerpts: Plaintiff's oral arguments in Price v. Phillip Morris appeal  

Stephen Swedlow, plaintiff's attorney:

"The first fact that amazed me when I started working on this case is that the tobacco in the Marlboro Lights and a regular Marlboro is the same tobacco. The only difference between the products as Mr. Cox identified, are the holes in the filter. That's it. And the holes in the filter, it's called filter ventilation, the level of ventilation is what changes the burn counts and causes the tar to be more toxic. But the tobacco would be the exact same tobacco.

"The fact that the tobacco is the same, that Phillip Morris designed these cigarettes to deliver the same tar and nicotine and that Phillip Morris measured 30 years ago, the fact that it does in fact deliver the same, should end the inquiry. Phillip Morris promised on every package lower tar and nicotine and intended that to be a lie at the time and measured it and determined that it was a lie for the entire country. . . .

Joseph Power, plaintiff's attorney:

"The American Medical Association, the American Lung Association, American Cancer Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, all in support of the judgment...has suggested (this is a) public health issue. In addition, the AARP and trial lawyers for public justice are in support of this case.

"Surgeon General...testified in the record of this case, had he known what he knows now and what he learned after 1999 he would never have recommended that people switch from the regular cigarettes to low tar cigarettes if they could not quit. And that's his testimony on this record. Unfortunately, the doctors were wrong and their patients paid the price.

"There were doctors who also testified in the record in this case that they too were recommending up until 2001 to their patients that didn't quit, clearly they wanted to quit, but if you couldn't quit switch to low tar light cigarettes.

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