A recent Arkansas Democrat-Gazette story, by John Lynch, “Lawyers Awarded $1.9M in Expenses in Arkansas Marlboro Case,” reports that Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox has approved a $1.9 million payment to the lawyers who won a $45 million settlement for Arkansas Marlboro Lights smokers.

The money reimburses them for their expenses over the 13-year life of the litigation against cigarette maker Philip Morris USA.  Fox awarded the attorneys, who represent 11 law firms, $1,867,858, on Monday, which is less than the $2.2 million they had asked for.  That payment brings the total disbursements so far authorized by the court to $31.2 million. The settlement money was deposited with Simmons Bank in December, court filings show.

Still to be decided is how much money the attorneys will ultimately be paid for their work, whether any of the funds will go to any nonprofit anti-tobacco advocacy groups and how much will be needed for administrative expenses, including the costs of mailing out checks to successful claimants.

At a hearing last week to begin the payout process and formally close the case, Fox ordered that $18.9 million go to smokers who filed a claim on the money.  A schedule for dispensing the money has not been disclosed.  At that Jan. 17 hearing, Fox told the lawyers he was not ready to decide how much they would be reimbursed for expenses.  The judge said he required more documentation about how they'd spent money during the course of the litigation.  He told them that he'd be scrutinizing their claims down to the meals they had claimed and that they would need to justify reimbursements.

In an order approving the payment, Fox wrote that the lawyers had provided what he needed to make his decision.  According to his two-page ruling, about 3 percent of the expense money, $54,233, will go to the four Arkansas firms that worked on the case: $26,997 to Carney, Williams, Bates & Pulliam of Little Rock; $26,050 to the Thrash Law Firm of Little Rock; $600 to the Lonnie C. Turner Law Office of Ozark; and $586 to Hardin, Jesson & Terry PLC of Little Rock.  Most of the fees money will go to the other firms:

• $631,298, Provost Umphrey Law Firm, Texas and Tennessee.
• $731,542, Williams Kherkher, Houston.
• $420,667, Korein Tillery, St. Louis.
• $9,804, Lovelace Law Firm, Miramar Beach, Fla.
• $9,680, Barnow & Associates, Chicago.
• $6,318, Barrett Law Office, Lexington, Miss.
• $4,316, Mantese Honigman P.C., Troy, Mich.

The judge had already granted the lawyers $10 million in legal fees, describing that amount as a partial payment for their work.  The lawyers reported devoting 15,205 work hours, which they valued at $10.2 million, to the litigation.  They had asked for as much as $30 million.

Fox has also approved a $223,494 payment to Hilsoft Notification, the company that managed the claims process, including conducting a regional advertising campaign to alert former smokers they could be eligible for money from the settlement.

He has also awarded $73,520 to the claims administrators, attorney Allison Allred and accountant Angie Hopkins.  The lead plaintiffs, James Easley and Wayne Miner, have been awarded $10,000 each.  The lawsuit was filed in 2003 on behalf of anyone who had purchased Marlboro Lights or Ultra Lights in Arkansas since they were first introduced in 1971.

The plaintiffs complained they had been deliberately misled by the company that those cigarettes were safer than regular ones.  Federal regulators barred cigarette makers from describing their products as light or mild in 2010.  Marlboro Lights and Ultra Lights are now sold as Marlboro Gold and Silver.

Philip Morris, a subsidiary of Altria Group in Virginia, denied the accusations and has prevailed in more than a dozen similar suits nationwide.  The Arkansas lawsuit was the last the company faced when it agreed to pay the money in July to end the suit without admitting wrongdoing.  It is the only settlement the company has paid.  A Massachusetts court awarded Marboro customers an average of about $76 per claim in February following a trial. That case is being appealed.

The Arkansas suit sought to have every Lights consumer fully reimbursed for every pack they bought.  The settlement is supposed to pay each successful claimaint 10 cents or 25 cents per pack purchased, depending on the time of purchase.

The Arkansas settlement received 26,297 claims, and paid out an average of $1,363 for the 13,281 applicants whose claim forms were judged eligible.  Another 7,851 applicants whose claim forms were questionable received $100 each.  Another 5,165 applications were rejected by the court on various grounds, but most of them because of questions about how they had been submitted.    

Anyone who bought the Marlboro brand's Lights and Ultra-Lights in Arkansas over a 38-year period was eligible to claim a portion of the money, 10 cents or 25 cents per pack, depending on the time the cigarettes were purchased.

For more on this case, visit https://www.marlborolightsclass.com/en