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Investigation of Karmeier sought 

Public interest groups see conflict of interest Three public interest groups on Tuesday called for the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board to investigate Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier's participation in and casting of a decisive vote on the two largest class action judgments in Illinois history.

According to the petition for investigation, the groups claim that Karmeier's vote to overturn the $1.05 billion St. Clair County verdict against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance and the $10 billion Madison County verdict against Philip Morris could be viewed as a nice return on their donations to his 2004 election campaign for the Supreme Court. . . .

Common Cause, Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) and Citizen Action/Illinois (CAI) filed the request Tuesday morning stating that an Illinois Supreme Court Justice or any other justice or judge has an obligation to recuse himself or herself from a case in which the judge's impartiality may be questioned.

"The heart of the matter in this case is the appearance that a decision was purchased," said Todd Dietterle, chairman of the board of Illinois Common Cause.

"The residents of this state are entitled to know why Justice Karmeier acted as he did. Beyond the immediate need for review, this case screams out the need to change how we select judges in Illinois." . . .

the request alleges that Karmeier also received millions of dollars from groups affiliated with Philip Morris USA, its parent company Altria, and Philip Morris' lawyers, its amici and their lawyers while the Price v Philip Morris case was pending appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court. . . .

Plaintiffs in the Philip Morris case did not formally ask Karmeier to recuse himself, but the petitioners claim he had an obligation to do so to avoid the appearance of impropriety which is not dependent on a motion by the litigant.

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IL Court Snuffs Light Cigarette Suit  

Enough, already.

That appeared to be the message of the Illinois Supreme Court, when it issued a two-paragraph supervisory order yesterday directing a Madison County judge to drop efforts to reopen a light cigarettes class action that originally resulted in a $10.1 billion verdict, the largest ever in the state.

The court directed Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron to vacate his order certifying questions for an interlocutory appeal to an intermediate court, the Madison St. Clair Record reports. . . .

controversy followed the case into the state supreme court after disclosures that a group supporting Philip Morris in an amicus brief contributed more than $1 million to the election campaign of state Supreme Court Justice Lloyd Karmeier, who cast a deciding vote in the tobacco company's favor in the original ruling.

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• Tillery free to light up class action against RJ Reynolds 

Now that the Illinois Supreme Court has laid to rest Stephen Tillery's $10 billion class action against cigarette maker Philip Morris, Tillery can thaw out a similar suit against cigarette maker RJ Reynolds and start all over again.

The Fifth District appellate court issued a mandate Dec. 7, ending a four-year freeze on a Madison County class action against RJ Reynolds.

Tillery sued RJ Reynolds in 2000, claiming it deceived smokers into believing that light cigarettes provided health benefits in comparison to regular cigarettes.

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Light Cigarette Suit Laid to Rest  

Tillery's class-action lawsuit, involving 1.1 million people who bought "light" cigarettes in Illinois, claimed Philip Morris knew when it introduced such cigarettes in 1971 that they were no healthier than regular cigarettes. But the company hid that information and the fact that light cigarettes actually had a more toxic form of tar, the lawsuit claimed.

Messages left at Tillery's office were not returned.

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Court ends Ill. tobacco case 

The Illinois Supreme Court today effectively ended St. Louis lawyer Stephen Tillery's efforts to keep alive his overturned $10.1 billion win against tobacco giant Philip Morris.

The court's 4-2 ruling strikes a hard blow against Tillery's claim that the court should reconsider its 2005 decision reversing the 2003�victory Tillery won from Madison County judge Nicholas Byron.

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• PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC. v. HON. NICHOLAS G. BYRON, Judge of the Third Judicial Circuit, et al. 

This cause coming to be heard on the motion of the petitioner, Philip Morris USA, Inc., an objection having been filed by the respondents Sharon Price, et al., a reply having been filed by the petitioner, and the court being fully advised in the premises;

IT IS ORDERED that the motion for leave to file a petition for writ of mandamus or prohibition is denied. The motion for supervisory order is allowed. In the exercise of this court's supervisory authority, the circuit court of Madison County is directed to vacate its order of May 9, 2007, certifying questions for interlocutory appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 308 in Price et al. v. Philip Morris USA Inc., No. 00 L 112, and to enter an order dismissing plaintiffs' motion to vacate or withhold final judgment pursuant to section 2–1203 of the Code of Civil Procedure . . .

JUSTICE FREEMAN, dissenting: . . .

the record shows that the federal government filed an amicus curiae brief on the merits in Watson, in which the federal government again declared: "The FTC has never promulgated official regulatory definitions of terms such as 'light' or 'low tar.' "

Indeed, continued the federal government: "Far from issuing detailed and specific regulations that govern respondent's marketing of light cigarettes, the FTC has not issued any such regulations at all." . . .

I do not believe that the question presented here can be characterized as being of such importance to the administration of justice that it necessitates this court's exercise of supervisory authority.

-5

The court's action today is entirely predictable because it quickly and quietly closes the book on a case that a majority of this court, I am sure, would rather forget. Had the court taken steps on rehearing to learn more about the various FTC actions that exist and thus render a more informed opinion, as I suggested at the time, we would not be in the situation that we are in today. I warned, in my dissent on denial of rehearing, that the court's suspect analysis with respect to the doctrine of primary jurisdiction would prove embarrassing over time. And indeed, time has not been kind to the plurality's conclusion that the FTC had "specifically authorize[d]" PMUSA's use of the terms "lights" and "lower tar." . . .

Given this turn of events, it is hardly surprising to see the court grant supervisory relief despite Philip Morris' utter failure to satisfy the criteria for this extraordinary remedy.

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• Ruling in Illinois 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.

The court's 4-2 ruling effectively denies Tillery's argument that the court should reconsider its 2005 decision reversing the 2003 victory Tillery won from Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron. The court's order ends years of costly, high-profile tobacco litigation.

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Fifth District passes Tillery's tobacco case to Illinois Supreme Court 

When Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron certified questions to the Fifth District Appellate Court about reopening a class action against Philip Morris, he might as well have certified his questions directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.

In a June 1 order the Fifth District stayed proceedings on the questions of "related matters pending in the Illinois Supreme Court."

Plaintiff's attorney Stephen Tillery of St. Louis notified the Fifth District on May 25 that he planned to submit Byron's questions to the Supreme Court in response to a Philip Morris petition.

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Tillery confident that recent USSC decision will reopen tobacco case 

Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have rendered a decision that will force the Illinois Supreme Court to restore a $10 billion judgment that class action attorney Stephen Tillery won against Philip Morris, according to Tillery.

The Illinois Supreme Court in 2005 ordered Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron to dismiss the suit, and Byron did so last December.

Tillery moved in January to reopen it.

He argued that the Illinois Justices committed an error in deciding that the Federal Trade Commission authorized light labeling for cigarettes.

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Tillery's attempt to reopen $10 billion tobacco case may fail in light of USSC decision 

Stephen Tillery must take a mighty leap to convince the Illinois Supreme Court that a new U.S. Supreme Court decision automatically revives his $10 billion class action against cigarette maker Philip Morris.

For months Tillery predicted a U.S. Supreme Court declaration that the Federal Trade Commission never authorized labeling of light and low tar cigarettes, but the Justices declared no such thing.

In fact, they unanimously agreed June 11 that Philip Morris complied with FTC labeling regulations.

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• Illinois Supreme Court drives stake in Tillery tobacco case for third and final time 

For the third time the Illinois Supreme Court has knocked down Stephen Tillery's $10.1 billion class action verdict against Philip Morris.

In an order this morning, the Court allowed the tobacco company's motion for a supervisory order blocking the 5th District Appellate Court from re-opening the case.

The Court directed Madison County Circuit Judge Nicholas Byron to vacate his May 9 order certifying questions of his jurisdiction to the 5th District. Byron dismissed the case in December 2006 at the command of the Supreme Court. . . .

In June Tillery reported to the Illinois Supreme Court that the U.S. Supreme Court had rendered an opinion in the other case vindicating his argument.

Five Illinois justices disagreed. Their brief order carried no signature. Justices Charles Freeman and Thomas Kilbride dissented.

Freeman wrote that the 5th District could have refused to hear it.

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• Illinois high court again voids $10.1 billion ruling in Philip Morris case 

The Illinois Supreme Court has again snuffed out a $10.1 billion judgment in a Madison County class-action lawsuit against cigarette maker Philip Morris USA.

The decision Wednesday by the high court is the latest in a string of setbacks in the case for Belleville attorney Stephen Tillery, who won the judgment in 2003 on behalf of Illinois smokers of Marlboro Lights, only to have it thrown out on appeal. . . .

In January, Tillery told Byron the Illinois Supreme Court would likely change its mind on the case based on a brief filed for the FTC in a different case. The brief stated the FTC has never regulated the definition of "light" cigarettes. At Tillery's request, Byron in May issued a ruling that allowed Tillery to pursue another appeal.

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that Byron reverse his decision from May, killing the case again.

Tillery said he has another option available for reviving the case: filing a motion arguing that new evidence has emerged -- the FTC brief. . . .

Illinois Supreme Court Justice Charles Freeman wrote a dissent to the ruling Wednesday, saying the court should have learned more about the FTC's role. Freeman said he warned that the court's first ruling would eventually "prove embarrassing."

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• Stephen Tillery: He says he fights for you 

But one phrase emblazoned on packages for decades -- "Lowered Tar & Nicotine" -- is gone. Lawyer Stephen Tillery asserts he is largely responsible.

In 2003, Tillery and a team of lawyers won $10.1 billion in a class action lawsuit over claims that Philip Morris' "lowered tar & nicotine" marketing was a lie. It was the first win for an attorney fighting a tobacco company over consumer fraud. Almost simultaneously, Philip Morris wiped the proclamation from its packaging.

Anti-tobacco activists claimed a short-lived victory. Two years later, on technical grounds, the Illinois Supreme Court tossed out the case and Tillery's nearly $1.8 billion in fees.

Tillery refuses to admit defeat. He has pushed the lawsuit back to the state high court, essentially arguing the justices got it wrong.

The case highlights conflicting portraits of Tillery and the class action system. Like many trial lawyers, he sees himself as a prize fighter for consumers, keeping corporations honest. Critics say he may be that skilled boxer, but is in it only for the purse. . . .

In an interview, he talks rapidly about tobacco-specific nitrosamines, the psychology of smoking, nicotine addiction, Philip Morris' strategies, puff sizes and deep tissue lung cancers.

He is no longer just outlining the case that won him the biggest-ever award in Illinois. Tillery is trying to win it again.

His claim is that Philip Morris designed their cigarettes to fool Federal Trade Commission analysis machines to produce a lower readout of tar and nicotine than smokers actually inhale. He argues consumers thought they were getting something safer, because of that little phrase "Lowered Tar & Nicotine.". . . .

Don't expect him to give up soon. Even if he fails against Philip Morris, he represents plaintiffs in two nearly identical claims; lawsuits against cigarette companies Brown & Williams and R.J. Reynolds have already been filed in Madison County.

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• Tobacco ruling could revive case in Madison County 

Now, anti-tobacco activists and Tillery say the U.S. high court has cast doubt on the extent to which the cigarette companies acted with federal power.

"We have found no evidence of any delegation of legal authority from the FTC to the tobacco industry association" which tested cigarettes for the trade commission, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote on behalf of the justices.

That position could help attorneys in some 20 states, including Tillery, who claim that Philip Morris violated state consumer fraud laws by hoodwinking smokers into believing that light cigarettes were less harmful than regular or full-flavor brands.

Tillery believes that decision and related legal briefs from the government saying companies were never specifically ordered or given approval to use the "light" label could help him persuade the Illinois Supreme court to reopen the Madison County case.

Philip Morris' parent corporation Altria Group issued a statement denying that Monday's ruling would effect lawsuits over light cigarettes. "Today's decision does not directly address the issue of whether (federal regulations on tobacco companies) prevents plaintiffs from suing under state consumer fraud laws," a statement said.

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Today's decision does not directly address the issue of whether (federal regulations on tobacco companies) prevents plaintiffs from suing under state consumer fraud laws.
Philip Morris statement on the Supreme Court's Watson ruling.

Landmark $10.1B Light Cigarette Award A 'Career Event' For Veteran Litigator 

The result, after an eight-week bench trial, was staggering: a $10.1 billion judgment against Philip Morris in March that has sent shockwaves through the tobacco industry and is expected to spur similar suits around the nation.

Although Philip Morris is appealing - and the $10.1 billion figure may not hold up over time - Tillery feels vindicated.

"It was a career event for me in terms of my time, my energy, and my firm's money," said Tillery of the case that consumed four years of his life and cost his 16-lawyer firm, Korein Tillery, millions of dollars to pursue.

"We've had as many as 17 paralegals and as many as 11 lawyers at any given time" working on the case, noted Tillery, who is 53. "For a firm our size … it's been an extraordinary commitment from the people here."

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