Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll Attorneys Skeptical Regarding Prospects for Tobacco Settlement Negotiations.

Business Editors, Legal Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 20, 2001

"Yesterday's announcement by the Bush Administration to enter into settlement negotiations with the cigarette companies regarding the federal government's RICO lawsuit comes as no surprise," says Cohen, Milstein partner Paul T. Gallagher, a lead attorney in a nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of young smokers against the very same companies. "The manner in which the Administration's announcement was made, including the government's purported assessment that its claims were weak, clearly demonstrates that the Bush Administration, like too many Administrations before it, is protecting the interests of the cigarette manufacturers over the interests of individuals who have been defrauded and harmed by the cigarette companies' fifty year conspiracy."

Attorneys Johnnie Cochran (Cochran, Cherry, Givens & Smith) and Michael D. Hausfeld filed their suit in May 2001. They assert that the major tobacco companies are guilty of fraud and racketeering in their aggressive efforts to get young people to buy and continue to use cigarettes. In response to yesterday's announcement, Mr. Gallagher added, "The Administration and the cigarette companies should be aware that the plaintiffs in our recently filed class action RICO case in the District of Columbia -- a case that parallels the government's RICO claims -- will pursue their case vigorously on behalf of the real victims of the cigarette companies: the men, women and children who the cigarette companies deceived in order to hook them on a product that in many, if not most, cases will ultimately contribute to their death. Any attempt to achieve a complete and final settlement of these claims cannot, and will not, be successful without the active participation and input from these victims and their counsel."