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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
After nimbly sidestepping any and all lawsuits for more than four decades, the tobacco industry received what could prove to be a mortal blow when Merrell Williams, a Louisville paralegal, stole thousands of pages of confidential documents from the law firm where he worked and handed them over to Michael Moore, the attorney general of Mississippi. These confidential documents proved that the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, a client of the firm, knew the dangers associated with smoking cigarettes, and that they had lied repeatedly to the public about the risks. Once these documents were released via the Internet and numerous anonymous mailings, the blood was in the water. A coalition of 65 top American trial lawyers attacked the tobacco industry from one side, while Moore and 39 other states’ attorneys general pounced from the other, eventually resulting in a $368 billion settlement–the largest in American history. The People Vs. Big Tobacco: How the States Took on the Cigarette Giants is a blow-by-blow account of how the "Mother of All Lawsuits" was eventually settled, who the major players were, and what the settlement actually means for the future of Big Tobacco. The lawsuit settlement has since been railed by many health organizations and policymakers as a sellout, but there is no doubt that the tobacco industry has been permanently altered. Though more big-league legal wrangling is sure to come, The People Vs. Big Tobacco is an excellent analysis of the battle as it currently stands.

From Library Journal
The reporters from Bloomberg Financial Markets recount the events and often dramatic negotiations between the CEOs of cigarette makers Philip Morris, RJR, Brown and Williamson, Ligett, and Lorillar and a loosely federated alliance of antismoking interests that resulted in a staggering $368.5 billion settlement against the tobacco giants in June 1997. The cigarette makers, confronted by a record number of pending lawsuits and a reelected President Clinton, reluctantly recognized the need to compromise or face possible bankruptcy. The arrogant miscalculations of the CEOs, the frustrations of attorneys on both sides, and the role played by whistle-blowers and document snatchers are all vividly retold, showing how that unlikely agreement was cobbled together. In addition to the settlement, the tobacco industry lost much of its advertising privileges and faced possible regulation by the Food and Drug Administration. This rousing, readable account serves as a fine complement to Richard Kluger’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Ashes to Ashes (LJ 6/15/96). Highly recommended for public libraries.?Karl Helicher, Upper Merion Township Lib., King of Prussia, Pa.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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