Ruling deals setback to tobacco industry: California court clears the way for more lawsuits by smokers
Kansas City Star
February 17, 2007

Even as Congress pushes for federal regulation of tobacco, the California Supreme Court this week rejected a federalcourt decision that in effect halted tobacco litigation in the state.

The ruling was a serious setback for the tobacco industry, which had benefited from what amounted to a four-year moratorium on smokers' liability lawsuits in California after a decision in 2002 by a federal appeals court.

Kansas City-based Shook Hardy & Bacon represented tobacco giant Philip Morris USA Inc. in the federal case, which concerned when California's statute of limitations begins to run in smokers' liability cases.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that smokers must sue once they discover, or should have discovered, that they are addicted to cigarettes. The decision in effect ruled out most smokers' lawsuits in California, since cigarette-related diseases usually manifest themselves years after smokers have become addicted.

Until the 9th Circuit's decision, California had been the site of some of the country's biggest damage awards against cigarette makers, including verdicts of $3.05 billion and $28 billion against Philip Morris in 2001 and 2002, respectively.

Tobacco industry critics predicted that Thursday's ruling would open the floodgates to smokers' suits in California.

"A high volume of tobacco litigation traffic is about to roar into California courtrooms," said Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston and a fierce critic of the industry.

Shook Hardy referred inquiries to Philip Morris, which did not return a call seeking comment.

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