Replies to post #1426 on Altria Group Inc (MO)

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=DJ Tobacco Cos Ask Appeals Court To Deny Class In Lights Case

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Dow Jones Real-Time News for InvestorsSM
3:21 p.m. 07/10/2007



By Chad Bray
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Altria Group Inc.'s (MO) Philip Morris USA and other cigarette makers argued Tuesday that a federal judge erred last year in granting class-action status to a lawsuit over tobacco companies marketing of "light" cigarettes.

At a hearing before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, Theodore M. Grossman, a lawyer for the tobacco companies, said there were 65 different brands of light cigarettes with hundreds of advertising campaigns during the 35-year period covered by the class certification.

He said the certification was "overbroad" and the issues so individualized for each brand or each smoker's own circumstances that the case can't be effectively grouped in such a class.

"Almost all of (the light cigarette brands) never spoke of health or safety as part of their advertising," Grossman said.

Last September, U.S. District Judge Jack B. Weinstein certified a broad class of smokers as potential plaintiffs in the case, which alleges tobacco companies duped the public into believing cigarettes labeled as "light" were less harmful to their health. The lawsuit was originally filed in May 2004.

The cigarette makers have claimed in court papers that the class certified by Weinstein would cover "nearly everyone who ever purchased a cigarette" since light cigarettes were introduced in the early 1970s, or an estimated 50 million U.S. residents.

The plaintiffs are seeking $280 billion in damages, which could be tripled to more than $800 billion if the smokers' federal racketeering claims are granted, the cigarette makers have said. The case is known as the Schwab case for its lead plaintiff, Barbara Schwab.

Michael D. Hausfeld, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said there was enough uniformity in the members of the class for it to be properly certified.

The Schwab case was originally scheduled for trial in January, but the appellate court stayed the trial in order to hear the tobacco companies' appeal.

Other defendants in the case include Reynolds American Inc.'s (RAI) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Loews Corp.'s (LTR) Lorillard Tobacco Co. unit, Vector Group Ltd.'s (VGR) Liggett Group and British American Tobacco PLC's (BTI) British American Tobacco (Investments) Inc.

-By Chad Bray, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-227-2017; [e-mail]