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Judge declines to play shell game with funds from Provost Umphrey Tobacco Partnership 

The battle between the Provost Umphrey law firm and former associate Brent Coon over attorney's fees from a multi-billion dollar tobacco settlement has outgrown its current arena and spilled over into another Jefferson County courtroom.

On Monday, Nov. 16, a hearing on whether the Provost Umphrey Tobacco Partnership (PUT) should be allowed to intervene and deposit tobacco funds into a case over attorney's fees in an asbestos lawsuit was held in Judge Milton Shuffield's 136th District Court.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Shuffield denied PUT's plea in intervention and said he would wait to rule on whether or not PUT can deposit funds in the court's registry.

Over the past two years, the Record has reported on the struggle between Coon and Walter Umphrey, two of Texas' most influential plaintiff's lawyers, and their legal war over millions in attorney's fees stemming from the state's mega-billion dollar tobacco settlement.

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• Court rules against tobacco shop 

Customers are still rolling their own smokes at Tobacco Haven, despite a superior court ruling Monday that says the Brookline shop is a cigarette manufacturer that hasn’t been paying either the mandatory Tobacco Settlement tax, or making escrow payments.

Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Larry Smukler issued a temporary injunction against Tobacco Haven on Monday, ordering the shop on Route 13 to either ensure that its supplier has paid the required tax or escrow payment, pay itself, or stop operating its two high-speed cigarette-rolling machines.

The machines take loose tobacco and roll 200 cigarettes in a matter of minutes. A carton costs $25.99, while cartons of many name brand cigarettes can cost twice as much. Customers have flocked to the store, often lining up to use the machines.

What’s at stake here is a lot more than where people can buy cheap smokes. The state filed suit against the company in August because New Hampshire stood to lose about $50 million in tobacco settlement money.

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News in brief - Nov. 16, 2009: Proposed medical school gets donation of tobacco settlement funds  

A proposal to build a new medical school and health sciences center at King College in Bristol, Tenn., received a major funding boost on Oct. 29 when the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission granted $25 million to the enterprise.

Plans to build the medical school were announced about a year ago by the college president. It is expected to cost $100 million to $150 million to complete, with an opening possible in 2012.

The grant stipulates that the medical school be constructed in Virginia. The twin cities of Bristol, Tenn., and Bristol, Va., abut each other on the Tennessee-Virginia state line, with King College falling on the Tennessee side.

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• Cancer hits Tennesseans hard  

Tennesseans die of cancer at the fifth-worst rate in the nation.

What kills them most frequently is cigarettes, but a powerful mix of misinformation and denial also drives up the death count.

A Tennessean examination that included dozens of interviews with doctors, cancer experts and patients across the state found health professionals frequently encounter people who have ignored symptoms for months or even years before going to a doctor. A lack of urgency or confusion about routine cancer screenings, coupled with misconceptions about treatment and even a fatalistic acceptance of the disease, leads to cancers being diagnosed too late to be treated successfully.

"There's a personal value system, a thought process that says, 'It can't be me,' and an incredibly complicated health system," said Mary Jane Dewey, director of the state Health Department's sole free cancer screening program. "Even people with insurance can't understand their policies."

Lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancers are the most commonly diagnosed in the state. In the 2001-05 reporting period, more Tennesseans died from lung cancer — 20,629 victims — than from the other three combined. . . .

But money can be an issue. The Tennessee legislature put $10 million into smoking prevention and cessation programs for the first time for the 2007-08 fiscal year, but then halved that the following year. This year, the state's tobacco control program is running on a $1.5 million budget, all but $300,000 of that from a Centers for Disease Control grant.

The money pays for the state's 1-800-QUIT-NOW line, which matches smokers with counselors to help them quit, and literature.

But anti-smoking advocates look most longingly at the state's $4.8 billion settlement with tobacco companies, which it began receiving in annual payments in 1999. The legislature voted to put the money into the general fund; none into anti-smoking programs. Tennessee has collected $1.9 billion to date.

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Lawyer Settles Lawsuit Against Richard Scruggs - NYTimes.com 

A settlement has been reached in a fraud lawsuit filed against Richard Scruggs, the anti-tobacco lawyer, a lawyer says.

William Roberts Wilson Jr. first sued Mr. Scruggs in 1994, saying he cheated him out of millions of dollars in fees from lawsuits that they worked on together. Mr. Wilson claimed Mr. Scruggs used the money to finance landmark anti-tobacco litigation in the '90s.

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Kings of Tort to be released nationwide on December 2nd I 

The amazing story behind tort magnate Dickie Scruggs’s judicial bribery scandal is presented by Pediment Publishing. Kings of Tort is the authoritative work on documenting this nationally known story and the relatively unknown 25 year history behind it. The book will be made available in retail outlets throughout the country on December 2nd. More Information including advance ordering of the book is available at http://www.kingsoftort.com.

Kings of Tort chronicles the sordid tale of judicial bribery and political intrigue in Mississippi, birthplace of the tobacco litigation and long known as one of the most tort-friendly jurisdictions in the nation. It features the story of Dickie Scruggs, who was largely credited with bringing down Big Tobacco in the early 1990s. From his ascent to a net worth of nearly a billion dollars to his seemingly unfathomable downfall stemming from his role in attempting to corrupt two local judges by improperly influencing the outcome of cases, the book documents how those in Scruggs’s own trusted circle of tort barons turned on him and cooperated with federal authorities. It also shows the political influence he wielded with judges, attorneys general, and even his own brother-in-law, former US Senator Trent Lott. . . .

The book also chronicles the legal bribery story of Scruggs confidante and tobacco lawsuit partner Paul Minor, son of Mississippi political columnist Bill Minor. He was convicted, along with the two judges he improperly influenced, and is currently serving an 11 year prison sentence.

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CAMPBELL: Golden Leaf Foundation has never lived up to its promise 

When the Golden Leaf Foundation was formed to receive 50 percent of North Carolina's portion of tobacco settlement funds, there were great hopes this organization would make a significant impact on a state affected by the decline of the golden leaf. The foundation has never lived up to its promise and a recent audit by State Auditor Beth Wood indicates more than a few serious issues.

Golden Leaf's problems were obvious from the beginning. . . .

Residents are justified to ask what we have received for the $800 million this organization has received to date. A strong case can be made that the benefits don't justify the expenditures, that inadequate management controls and undue political influence might indicate we go back to the drawing board and come up with a new approach that does not have so many inherent problems. At a minimum we need more accountability, better controls, less political influence and a new vision. We don't often get the chance to receive $2.5 billion. It is imperative that we get maximum benefit from the remaining $1.5 billion projected to be received in this fund between now and 2025.

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Stop mortgaging tobacco cash  

Idea 32: Stop stealing from future taxpayers by mortgaging the tobacco lawsuit settlement money. . . .'

Benefits: Those three trips to the tobacco lawsuit loan window are responsible for about $80 million in annual debt service payments. That money is not available for government services, including revenue sharing for communities, college scholarships and certain Medicaid programs. Stopping this practice would free up money for higher budget priorities.

How: The best solution might be a ballot initiative to remove any ambiguity in the state constitution's balanced budget provisions. Publicizing this practice might shame lawmakers into stopping it.

Obstacles: Lawmakers prefer to spend but fear asking current voters to pay more, thinking it is better to stiff future taxpayers.

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• State auditor critical of Golden LEAF Foundation 

A foundation that distributes North Carolina's tobacco settlement money broke the law by approving a $15 million grant behind closed doors, State Auditor Beth Wood said Monday.

In a report, Wood accused the Golden LEAF Foundation of repeatedly restricting and delaying her access to records of the foundation's meetings and investments.

That is worrisome, Wood said.

State lawmakers set up Golden LEAF, which stands for the Long-term Economic Advancement Foundation, in 1999 to manage the proceeds of a historic settlement with cigarette makers.

The Rocky Mount-based foundation has received $706.5 million

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Scruggs Prosecutor Writes Tell-All Book 

The recently retired lead prosecutor in the case against Mississippi trial lawyer Richard “Dickie” Scruggs has written an insider’s account of the sensational judicial bribery scandal that sent the billionaire tobacco litigator, his son and several associates to prison.

Veteran former prosecutor Tom Dawson teamed up with conservative Mississippi legal blogger Alan Lange to examine the Scruggs case and the conviction of another Mississippi trial lawyer named Paul Minor.

“Kings of Tort: The True Story of Dickie Scruggs, Paul Minor and Two Decades of Political and Legal Manipulation in Mississippi” will be published in December. . . .

In the 1990s, Scruggs teamed up with Missisippi’s Democratic state Attorney General, Michael Moore, to sue major tobacco companies. One of Scrugg’s adversaries in the tobacco wars was his former fraternity brother at Ole Miss, Haley Barbour, then chairman of the Republican National Committee and an ally of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a vigorous advocate of tort reform.

Barbour was elected governor of Mississippi in 2003, a position he still holds today. The state legislature passed a Barbour-sponsored law limiting the ability to file tort claims in the state.

Scruggs reportedly earned $1 billion in fees from the tobacco litigation, and his role was memorialized in a movie, The Insider. . . .

Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Oxford continue to investigate Scrugg's former associate, P.L. Blake, a Mississippi Delta farmer who reportedly was paid $50 million for helping Scruggs in the tobacco litigation in the 1990s.

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Southwest Virginia projects receive more than $30 million in tobacco money  

WYTHEVILLE, Va.--About 20 Southwest Virginia projects received more than $30 million in awards today from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission.

The lion's share--$25 million - was awarded to the proposed King College medical school.

"We see this as a game changer," commission Executive Director Neal Noyes said when presenting the plan to the Southwest Virginia Economic Development Committee.

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Attorney O'Quinn killed in car wreck  

Prominent Houston attorney John O'Quinn was one of two men who died this morning when their speeding SUV slammed into a tree on Allen Parkway after the driver apparently lost control, police said.

"I'm stunned. The community lost one of its biggest assets," said Rick Laminack, who worked with O'Quinn from 1987 until 2006. "He was a great lawyer who shared a lot of his wealth with people who needed help."

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Profile: John O'Quinn  

This story originally ran Jan. 11, 1998

. . .

Texas' lawsuit against the major tobacco companies, in which O'Quinn is serving as lead attorney, went on hold for several months, then added another major player, South Carolina tobacco specialist Ron Motley, with whom O'Quinn would have to share the stage. . . .

The great cases and big victories will return, one expects, assuming he does not lose his license. The tobacco case reportedly is on the verge of settling, leaving the plaintiff lawyers with $1 billion or more to split up. But the weight of the accusations and the headlines they've generated has been great.

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Texas judge to handle Scruggs case  

A federal judge in Texas will hear a lawsuit claiming that disgraced former trial attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and several others conspired to defraud a former colleague of millions of dollars in legal fees.

Chief Judge Edith Jones of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday ordered the case be reassigned to U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston, Texas.

The lawsuit against Scruggs was filed by William Roberts Wilson Jr. of Tuscaloosa, Ala. He and Scruggs, who currently suits in federal prison, once worked together suing asbestos companies.

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Scruggs case goes to Texas judge  

A federal judge in Texas has been assigned to preside over an Alabama attorney's lawsuit that alleges imprisoned attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and several others conspired to defraud him of millions in legal fees.

On Friday, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Edith H. Jones ordered William Roberts Wilson Jr.'s case reassigned to U.S. District Judge David Hittner in Houston, Texas. . . .

Wilson claimed Scruggs cheated him out of money and used it to fund a batch of landmark anti-tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s

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