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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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