Panel looks at tobacco fees

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A three-member panel will decide the amount of money private attorneys will receive for their role in Missouri's lawsuit against big tobacco companies.

The private attorneys, along with Attorney General Jay Nixon, testified before the Tobacco Fee Arbitration Panel in a closed meeting in Chicago on Wednesday. Also testifying were lawyers representing tobacco companies responsible for paying the fees.

The panel is expected to meet through today, before taking the evidence under consideration and making a decision.

Missouri is one of 46 states that settled health-related lawsuits against tobacco companies in November 1998. Missouri's share is projected at $4.5 billion over 25 years. Private attorneys who helped with the lawsuits are being paid through a separate pot of money.

So far, the arbitration panel has awarded fees to private lawyers representing 16 states, including $3.4 billion to those in Florida and $24 million to attorneys in New Mexico. The arbitration panel's latest decision, announced Sept. 7, awarded $450 million to Michigan's outside counsel.

Given the range of those payments, it remains unclear how much Missouri's team of lawyers that spent five months on the case could receive.

Generally, the panel must issue its decision within 15 business days of the hearing, although in the case of Michigan, it took several months for a decision.

Decision final

Once issued, the panel's decisions are final.

Thomas Strong, a Springfield, Mo., lawyer appointed by Nixon to head Missouri's tobacco case, gave opening arguments Wednesday on his team's behalf and was followed by attorneys representing tobacco companies.

Nixon was called to testify, said Chuck Hatfield, an assistant attorney general who also traveled to Chicago for the proceedings.

"The attorney general was there because the panel wants to hear from state attorneys general. They have made that clear in their opinions," Hatfield said Thursday.

If Strong is paid through the panel, the state has a document from the attorney stating that Missouri has no financial responsibility for fees.

In Illinois and Maryland, tobacco attorneys have filed lawsuits seeking money from those states even after arbitration rulings.

"Nixon feels it is very important that outside counsel fees are paid by the arbitration panel and not by the taxpayers," Hatfield said.

Hatfield said there was no specific mention during opening arguments of what Strong was seeking in fees.

In deciding attorney fees, the panel considers the timing of when a state sued the tobacco companies, how many hours were put into the case, the documents filed and whether any new evidence was discovered.