ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT AGREES TO HEAR PHILIP MORRIS APPEAL.The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal by Philip Morris USA Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. General information On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc. Even under this new name, Altria continues to own 100% of Philip Morris USA. of a state court's award of $10.1 billion in damages in a class action accusing the tobacco company of misleading smokers about the dangers of so-called light cigarettes. The court also reinstated a reduced bond set by Madison County Madison County is the name of twenty counties in the United States, named after President James Madison:
After awarding $10.1 billion to the plaintiffs last March, Judge Byron called for an appeal bond of $12 billion. But he reduced it to about $6.8 billion after Philip Morris said it might have to file for bankruptcy protection. Then an appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. ruled he had overstepped his authority and reinstated the full bond - an action just overturned by the state's highest court, which also said it would hear Philip Morris's appeal without intermediate review. The company will put a $6 billion note into an escrow escrow Instrument, such as a deed, money, or property, that constitutes evidence of obligations between two or more parties and is held by a third party. It is delivered by the third party only upon fulfillment of some condition. account, where it will draw interest, and put up an additional $800 million in monthly installments. The American Tort Reform Association The American Tort Reform Association (ATRA), founded in 1986, is an organization that advocates for "tort reform." Its membership consists of more than 300 businesses, corporations, municipalities, associations, and professional firms. lists Madison County, where the case is being heard, as a "judicial hellhole" where corporate defendants are denied even-handed application of the law. ATRA ATRA All-Trans Retinoic Acid (aka tretinoin) ATRA American Tort Reform Association ATRA American Therapeutic Recreation Association (Alexandria, VA) ATRA Advanced Transit Association points out that 25 percent of Judge Byron's initial award was to go to the plaintiffs' lawyer, who was the largest contributor to his election campaign. It also said his order incorporated the lawyer's proposed judgment virtually word for word, complete with typographical errors. |
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