Can we expect more non-American Tobacco Manufacturers in the U.S.??

August 22, 2007 - Can we expect more non-American Tobacco Manufacturers in the U.S.?? - The Illinois Supreme Court today effectively ended St. Louis lawyer Stephen Tillery's efforts to keep alive his overturned $10.1 billion win against tobacco giant Philip Morris.The court's 4-2 ruling strikes a hard blow against Tillery's claim that the court should reconsider its 2005 decision reversing the 2003 victory Tillery won from Madison County judge Nicholas Byron. Tillery had brought a class action against Philip Morris, claiming that the corporation's marketing of light cigarettes amounted to fraud because smokers weren't getting anything less dangerous than regulars. Byron agreed and ordered the record-setting verdict, including $1.8 billion in attorney's fees for Tillery and other lawyers. But on appeal, the state Supreme Court sided with Philip Morris's argument the corporation was protected from the lawsuit because the Federal Trade Commission had specifically authorized marketing of cigarettes as light and low-tar. ( Court ends Illinois Tobacco Case by Adam Jadhav, St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Settlements like this is a validation that the litigation environment in the U.S. for tobacco companies has improved and a sign that other non-American (e.g., Imperial Tobacco to Buy Commonwealth to Enter U.S.)tobacco manufacturers could follow Imperial into the highly profitable U.S. Market (Bonnie Herzog, Citigroup's Tobacco Analyst). Click on image to enlarge...