Court more than halves tobacco verdict
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A Louisiana appeals court cut a $591 million verdict against tobacco companies by more than half and limited the kinds of smoking-cessation programs the money can be used for.
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Federal prosecutors and Big Tobacco lawyers will storm into legal war Tuesday in a $280 billion megatrial and fraud case that could cripple the leading US cigarette firms if they lose.
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WASHINGTON - A lawyer for the tobacco industry on Wednesday rejected the government's claim that cigarette companies conspired for decades to mislead the public about the dangers of smoking and should forfeit $280 billion generated by the alleged fraud.    To win the case, the government must prove the scheme existed and is likely to continue...
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It has taken five years of pretrial skirmishing, but testimony will finally begin Tuesday in the government&#39;s massive racketeering case against the tobacco industry for allegedly defrauding
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Although of limited scope, the 5 to 4 decision was a victory for the cigarette industry and for other corporate defendants.
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The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday  upheld a lower court decision to throw out a &#36;145 billion  punitive damage award against the major tobacco companies, a  big victory for the cigarette industry.
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WASHINGTON  - Major cigarette makers go on trial on Tuesday in the U.S. government's $280 billion racketeering case that charges the tobacco industry with deliberately deceiving the public about the risks of smoking since the 1950s.
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Several major tobacco companies are set to go to a U.S. appellate court on Tuesday to argue about whether a $200 billion lawsuit against them by "light" cigarette smokers should proceed as a class action.
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Philip Morris USA challenged a $10.1 billion consumer fraud ruling Wednesday, telling the Illinois Supreme Court that its &quot;light&quot; cigarettes performed as advertised.
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Sick Florida smokers urged the state&#39;s highest court Wednesday to punish the tobacco industry for &quot;fraud and deceit&quot; by restoring a $145 billion class-action award, the largest ever by an American jury.
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A divided U.S. federal appeals court  panel on Wednesday expressed skepticism about whether the  government had the authority to force cigarette makers to pay  billions of dollars in past profits as part of its racketeering  case against the industry.
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A divided federal appeals court  panel on Wednesday expressed skepticism about whether the  government had the authority to force cigarette makers to cough  up billions of dollars in past profits as part of its  racketeering case against the industry.
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A divided U.S. federal appeals court  panel on Wednesday expressed skepticism about whether the  government had the power to force cigarette makers to pay  billions of dollars in past profits as part of its racketeering  case against the industry.
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WASHINGTON -- It has taken five years of pretrial skirmishing, but testimony will finally begin tomorrow in the government's massive racketeering case alleging that the tobacco industry defrauded and misled the American public for almost 50 years about the health risks of cigarette smoking.
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US prosecutors will try to overturn a court ruling that threw out its claim for $280bn in damages from the nation's major tobacco firms.
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Florida Supreme Court judges on Wednesday questioned attorneys for smokers and cigarette companies on whether a case involving thousands of smokers can properly be tried as a class action.
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LOS ANGELES Punitive damages of 100 (m) million dollars awarded to the family of a man who sued tobacco giant Philip Morris have been slashed in half by a state appeals court in Los Angeles.