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Eleven indicted in cigarette smuggling conspiracy 

Eleven people have been charged with operating an international cigarette smuggling ring, according to a federal indictment.

Officials have arrested 10, charging them with smuggling, selling and trafficking millions of counterfeit cigarettes; another man also charged in the conspiracy remains at large, officials said.

The defendants, seven of whom operated tobacco companies, allegedly made their money by taking cigarettes intended for export and diverting them to American consumers, and by distributing counterfeit cigarettes made outside the country.

The investigation, which began in April 2003, used federal agents to operate an undercover cigarette business that worked with the defendants in Maryland, Florida, Arizona, Texas, North Carolina, Nevada, Washington state, South America, China and elsewhere.

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Lawyer Headed to Jail But May Keep License 

Houston attorney Marc Murr, who was indicted with former Texas Attorney General Dan Morales last spring on charges stemming from the state's $17.3 billion settlement with tobacco interests, will begin serving a six-month prison sentence after Jan. 1, 2004. On Dec. 19, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of the Western District in Austin sentenced Murr to five years of supervised release but made six months of incarceration a special condition of the probation. Sparks also fined Murr $40,000.

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Texas Attorney General Files Motion to Dismiss Tobacco Claim 

Texas Attorney General John Cornyn filed a motion asking a federal court to dismiss a $260 million claim by Houston attorney Marc Murr for his work on the state's settlement with the tobacco industry.

Murr, who had been awarded $1 million for representing Texas in the tobacco litigation, had filed suit in U.S. District Court in Texarkana seeking at least $260 million in fees, said Heather Browne, a spokeswoman for Cornyn. Cornyn wants Murr's claim to be decided by the state legislature.

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FBI raises questions in state's tobacco suit 

The FBI is asking questions about former Attorney General Dan MORALES' contacts with two Houston attorneys in connection with the state's successful suit against tobacco companies.

One is JOE JAMAIL, a famous litigator who claimed Morales improperly solicited millions of dollars from him and other lawyers in seeking help in the suit. The other is MARC MURR, a friend of Morales' and little-known plaintiffs' attorney whose critics claim he did little to earn the huge fees he is seeking in the tobacco case. . .

But phone records and sign-in sheets obtained by the Houston Chronicle indicate Murr infrequently visited the attorney general's office during the suit and was only occasionally called by Morales.

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Tort-reform group weighs in on fight over tobacco fees 

The lawyers have delayed making a choice to collect fees from the tobacco companies -- not the state -- until Cornyn completes his investigation. They have asked the federal judge supervising the tobacco litigation to conduct a hearing.

Kelly, general counsel for Houston Industries and prominent in Texans for Lawsuit Reform, a tort-reform group, had figured in the tobacco legal fees challenge almost from the beginning. Austin lawyer Pete Schenkkan, who wrote the brief for Texans for Reasonable Legal Fees in the refinery case, said Kelly had asked him to scrutinize the tobacco fee award soon after the tobacco settlement was announced last January.

Schenkkan was later hired by seven state legislators who filed lawsuits challenging the legal fees. Schenkkan said he did not know if Kelly arranged his hiring by the legislators.

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Health system plans tobacco funds panel 

The University Health System will appoint a 15-member committee to help it decide how to use a $21 million windfall from the state's tobacco lawsuit settlement.

Board members said Tuesday that they already have developed a list of prospects for the committee and expect to make their choices later this week.

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Texas AG, Lawyers Spar Over Tobacco Litigation Fees 

The cease-fire is over and hostilities have resumed with a vengeance in the conflict, now that Dan Morales is a memory and his Republican replacement, Attorney General John Cornyn, is on board.

Cornyn, in office only a few weeks, announced Jan. 12 he has begun an investigation of the tobacco litigation to determine if civil or criminal wrongdoing has been committed. The announcement came after the five lawyers refused to release their right to seek more fee money from the state by the Dec. 30 deadline.

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Texas Lawyer MURR Investigated in Tobacco Settlement, WSJ Says 

Houston lawyer Marc Murr, who was awarded $1 million for representing Texas in tobacco litigation, is the subject of an investigation by state Attorney General John Cornyn into civil and criminal wrongdoing in the case, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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Paying the state's tobacco lawyers: It's not over yet 

The $17.3 billion Texas tobacco litigation is destined for another stop in federal court to find a way to settle the festering dispute over how much the five private lawyers hired by the state should be paid.

At issue: Attorney General John Cornyn, who has been on the job for two weeks, has announced an investigation of the lawyers' conduct. He says they might have acted illegally or unethically in representing the state. If he were to allege wrongdoing, he could sue the lawyers, who were hired by his predecessor. If he were to win, he could strip them of any fees in the case.

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Why should we go on forever litigating this?
University of Texas law professor Charles Silver, who represents the lawyers former Attorney General Dan Morales hired, on the Texas lawyers' fees brou-ha-ha. Quoted in <i>Paying the state's tobacco lawyers: It's not over yet</i>

CORNYN investigating trial lawyers 

New Texas Attorney General John Cornyn said Tuesday that he is investigating the trial lawyers who won $17.3 billion for the state in the historic tobacco case last year for possible criminal wrongdoing and unethical conduct.

Mr. Cornyn has indicated to colleagues that he may seek the return of almost one-third of the $3.3 billion the five prominent plaintiffs' lawyers were awarded last month by a tobacco industry-funded arbitration panel, according to people close to the litigation and Mr. Cornyn.

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I intend to investigate the facts surrounding the tobacco litigation to determine if civil or criminal wrongdoing has been committed.
New Texas Attorney General John Cornyn. Quoted in <i>CORNYN investigating trial lawyers</i

Plaintiffs Attorneys for Texas Request $25 Billion Fee Award in Tobacco Case 

In a closed-door meeting Saturday in New York, people who were present say, the Texas attorneys presented formulas to support their case that the five law firms that represented the state should be paid nearly 10 times the $2.6 billion they had asked for just last month. . . The lawyers representing the state of Texas are Walter Umphrey, Harold Nix, John O'Quinn, Wayne Reaud and John Eddie Williams.

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Brown & Williamson Says Texas Latest In String Of Victories For Tobacco 

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Texas Court Throws Out Labor Health Care Fund Case Extending Tobacco Industry's Nationwide String of Victories 

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