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Appeals court tapped to referee Coon vs. Umphrey dispute over tobacco fees 

For the past two years, two of Texas' most influential plaintiff's lawyers have been embattled over millions in attorney's fees stemming from the state's mega-billion dollar tobacco settlement.

And with that much money on the table, Brent Coon is apparently unwilling to allow his old boss, Walter Umphrey, to select an arbitrator of his pleasing to mediate the dispute. Coon alleges the prospective arbitrator may be biased toward Umphrey.

Coon has filed a motion for a writ of mandamus with the Ninth Court of Appeals of Texas, asking justices to revoke Umphrey's selection of Frank Newton as his firm's arbitrator. The case has been set for submission on briefs on Aug. 6.

The crux of the dispute arose in November 2007, when Coon, once a partner at the Provost Umphrey Law Firm in Beaumont, claimed he never received his share of the more than $3 billion in attorneys' fees from the $17.3 billion tobacco settlement with the State of Texas.

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