Judges Reject Industry Lawyers’ Request

Judges in three states rejected the request of tobacco industry lawyers that Liggett Group Inc. be prevented from turning over for judicial review documents containing potentially explosive information. A federal judge in Texarkana, Texas, and state court judges in Chicago and Laurel, Miss., all issued restraining orders directing the four other U.S. tobacco companies--Philip Morris Inc., R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Inc. and BAT Industries’ Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp.--to cease attempts to impede Liggett’s plans to provide documents that could play a key role in coming tobacco litigation. Liggett agreed to provide the documents--which reportedly involve information about the strategy of tobacco industry lawyers--to judges, under seal, as part of a massive settlement with 22 state attorneys general. The state attorneys general have sued the tobacco industry seeking to recover costs attributed to providing health care to indigent smokers. The other companies argued that Liggett has no right to release the material, contending that it is protected by what is known as the “joint defense privilege” in litigation. All three judges plan to review the documents in private and then render decisions about which ones can be made public. A judge in Phoenix scheduled a hearing on the same issue for Friday, and litigation is expected in virtually every state in which major tobacco lawsuits are pending.