Korein Tillery has filed numerous class action and individual cases against the nation's three largest tobacco companies - Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson - based on their marketing and sale of so-called "light" cigarettes. While other law firms have filed similar cases, KT was the first to convince a court to certify a light cigarette case as a class action, and were lead counsel in the first light cigarette class action ever tried to verdict. Korein Tillery's tobacco practice remains active at both the trial court and appellate levels, pursuing cases on behalf of injured smokers and assisting attorneys in litigation against big tobacco on behalf of individual smokers, consumer classes, and even state and national governments. In December 2006, the Canadian Department of Justice honored Korein Tillery for its help in securing a settlement that removed the descriptors "light" and "mild" from tobacco products in Canada.
Representative Matters
Missouri Light Cigarette Litigation: Craft v. Philip Morris Companies, Inc., No. 002-00406A (Mo. Cir. Ct. filed Feb. 14, 2000); Collora v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., No. 002-00732 (Mo. Cir. Ct. filed Mar. 17, 2000); Black v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., No. 002-8526 (Mo. Cir. Ct. filed Nov. 29, 2000). Lead counsel: Stephen M. Tillery.
Plaintiffs filed these three cases in the Missouri Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis alleging that the tobacco company defendants marketed their cigarettes as "lights" or lower in tar than regular brands and that such representations were deceptive and in violation of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act. Plaintiffs are seeking damages for themselves and others similarly situated for the tobacco company defendants' violations of the Act. Specifically, plaintiffs have alleged that the defendants falsely represented that "lights" delivered lower tar and nicotine but failed to disclose that "lights" contained ventilation holes that simply diluted the tar and nicotine per puff as measured by the industry standard testing apparatus; failed to disclose that defendants intentionally manipulated the design and content of "lights" in order to maximize nicotine delivery; failed to disclose that the defendants intended to fool the machine tests with these design changes; and failed to disclose that the design changes increased the harmful effects of tar.
Over the course of this litigation, the defendants have removed the cases to federal court multiple times, including after five years of heavily contested litigation in the circuit court. Plaintiffs' latest motions to remand in the federal district court achieved an across the board victory for the plaintiffs as each of the cases was remanded to the Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis. See Craft v. Philip Morris Cos., Inc., 2006 WL 744415 (E.D. Mo. Mar. 17, 2006); Collora v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 428 F.Supp.2d 1018 (E.D. Mo. 2006); Black v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., 2006 WL 744414 (E.D. Mo. Mar.17, 2006).
Plaintiffs have successfully moved for class certification in both Craft and Collora. The defendants sought interlocutory appeal of the class certification order. In a ground breaking opinion delineating the scope of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, the Missouri Court of Appeals affirmed the circuit court's certification of a class of Missouri "lights" consumers. Craft v. Philip Morris Cos., Inc., 190 S.W.3d 368 (Mo. App. 2005). The Missouri Light Cigarette Litigation matters have been stayed pending the outcome of Altria Group, Inc. v. Good, which was decided in favor of the plaintiffs when the U.S. Supreme Court held that light cigarette claims based on state statutes, such as the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, are not preempted by federal law. The cases should be set for trial in the near future.
State of Nigeria v. Philip Morris International, et al. In 2007, Korein Tillery filed suit on behalf of the Nigerian Federal Government and several Nigerian state governments in a wide-scale litigation effort to recover health care costs from British American Tobacco and Philip Morris International for the treatment of tobacco-related illnesses and diseases. Cases are currently pending in federal court, as well as in Nigeria's largest and most populous states, including Lagos State, Kano State, Oyo State, and Gombe State courts.
Nigeria: Tobacco Companies Sued, New York Times, 8 Nov 2007
Tobacco giants ‘targeted African children to boost flagging profits’, London Times Online, 4 July 2007
Watson v. Philip Morris, 127 S. Ct. 2301 (2007); Kelly v. Martin & Bayley, Inc., 503 F.3d 584 (7th Cir. 2007). After the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit erroneously held that Philip Morris was acting as a federal officer in designing, manufacturing and selling "light" cigarettes, Korein Tillery successfully obtained reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court. To avoid the result of this erroneous decision, which would allow tobacco companies to remove to federal court all cases involving "light" cigarettes, KT employed a two-pronged attack. While simultaneously pursuing the same issue to the Seventh Circuit on behalf of the family of Everett Kelly, a deceased "light" cigarette smoker, KT assisted counsel for Watson in successfully petitioning the Supreme Court for certiorari. Once certiorari was granted, KT attorneys assisted counsel in Watson with brief writing and preparation for oral argument. KT also successfully solicited the overwhelming amicus support for the plaintiffs in Watson. Included among the amici were the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids, American Lung and Heart Associations, American Cancer Society, American Legacy Foundation, and attorneys general for 45 of the 50 U.S. states. The result: a 9-0 reversal of the Eighth Circuit in Watson, as well as a subsequent legal victory for the plaintiffs in Kelly.
Price v. Philip Morris Inc., 2003 WL 22597608 (Ill.Cir. Mar 21, 2003), rev'd, 848 N.E.2d 1 (Ill. Dec 15, 2005), reh'g denied, 846 N.E.2d 597 (Ill. May 5, 2006), cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 685 (Nov. 27, 2006). The seven-week trial of Price in 2003 brought together preeminent leaders of the world public health community in support of an Illinois consumer fraud case challenging the use of the word "light" as a deceptive low-tar cigarette descriptor. In this first ever judgment rendered in a light cigarette fraud case, Korein Tillery obtained a $10.1 billion verdict ($7.1 billion compensatory and $3 billion punitive) in this class action lawsuit alleging fraud in the marketing of Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights cigarettes. Plaintiffs accused Philip Morris of misleading the Illinois class of consumers by packaging cigarettes as "Lights" and claiming that these cigarettes contain "lower tar and nicotine than regular cigarettes." The court agreed, holding not only that these "Lights" cigarettes deliver the same amount of tar and nicotine and are therefore just as harmful as a regular cigarettes, but also that the "Lights" cigarettes actually deliver more of the most toxic substances to smokers than regular cigarettes.
