This document is a privileged and confidential
Philip Morris Tort Reform Project Budget from 1995-96. It shows how
well-funded and widespread the tobacco industry's plan to alter the
American judicial system is. It lists all the consultants,
organizations, individuals and law firms the
industry funded to promote alteration of the legal system in
1995-96.
In 2002, the consumer advocacy organization Public
Citizen investigated the roots of the U.S. "tort reform"
movement and found that this "movement" is actually a massive
national PR effort initiated by the tobacco industry to reduce or
eliminate exposure to liability law suits. The tobacco industry
enlisted the participation of other industries like chemical
manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, automobile manufacturers,
insurance companies and others to alter the U.S. system laws
("tort") that give sick and injured consumers access the court
system. Today's document reveals that the tobacco industry alone
budgeted fully $21.8 million for the tort reform effort in the single
year of 1995. (Public Citizen's report can be seen among the
industry's documents at
Today's featured document also shows that the
industry paid the international public relations firm APCO
Associates almost $1 million in 1995 to implement behind-the-scenes
tort reform efforts. APCO's job was to create chapters of
"grassroots" citizens' groups called Citizens Against
Lawsuit Abuse (CALAs). Another Philip Morris document about tort
reform states, "APCO has been setting up...Citizens Against
Lawsuit Abuse chapters...I would argue that it is important to continue
because grass roots agitation for tort reform helps us to protect
[our interests in SB 241 (a tort reform bill before the California
legislature]." http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/cgi/getdoc?tid=kjr67d00&fmt=pdf&ref=results
A January 1995 "privileged and confidential" memo
from Covington and Burling (a long-time tobacco industry law
firm) states that, to be effective, media
activities promoting tort reform "must not be linked to
the tobacco industry."http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/cgi/getdoc?tid=lao00e00&fmt=pdf&ref=results
Yet another "highly confidential" 1994 Philip Morris
memorandum states,
"Our success in the tort battles in the past two years has
resulted in part from our ability to find non-tobacco industry
messengers to head the fight. Our success in battling
[Florida-type Medicaid legislation] will come in part from our
ability to [use] the more acceptable public face of key
business association or coalition leaders."http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/cgi/getdoc?tid=hym22a00&fmt=pdf&ref=results
----------------------------
Notes
I am re-posting this document due to a
special request (see Letters to the Editor, below).
-------------------------------
Company:
Philip Morris
Author:
Presumed corporate author, Philip Morris
Recipient:
Presumed corporate recipient, Philip Morris
Region:
United States
Operation/Project:
Tort Reform Project (Tobacco industry effort to
reform U.S. judicial system)
The tobacco industry spearheaded a massive national
movement aimed at altering the American judicial system to
prevent/restrict lawsuits against
it.
Retained by PM to organize the front group TASSC, ("The
Advancement of Sound Science
Coalition")
Associated Industries of
Florida Audio Master BG & Associates Intl Bode
Call Briggs Morgan Bruce S Rogow Pa Calvin M
Whitesell Carpenter Snodgrass + Associates Citizens Against
Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) (Corporate-created "grassroots"
groups) Citizens Coalition Citizens for a
Sound Economy (Powerful industry-funded think tank that promotes
deregulation of industry) Civil Litigation Report Cohn
Wolfe (International public relations firm) Communications
Group Corporate Relations Management Covington & Burling (Tobacco Industry law
firm)
Tobacco industry law firm. Was involved in organizing
the Whitecoat Project.
Crowell
Moring Danwal Security Services Dickstein Shapiro Don
Beason Doyle Nelson Duke Univ Ferriter Scobbo Florida
Conference of Black State Legislators Florida
Consultants Fowler White Greenberg Traurig Hill
Barlow Howard Rice Il Mfg Assn Jr Publishing J Larry
Williams Kathleen E Daley + Associates Kelsh
Kelsh Lamonica Latham Watkins Louisinanans for Legal
Reform Louisianans Assn of Business + Industry L Garry Smith +
Associates Mi Voters Against Lawsuit Abuse Mn Civil Justice
Coalition Montgomery Smith Mullenholz Brimsek Murphy
Pintak M Fair Natl Assn of Attorneys General Natl
Media NC Citizens for Business + Industry New England Legal
Foundation Nielsen Merksamer Ohio Alliance for Civil
Justice Pennington Haben Piper Marbury Preti
Flaherty Princeton Public Affairs Group Product Liability
Alliance Public Opinion Strategies RDB Associates Richard A
Epstein Riker Danzig Rogers Towers Roland House Ronald L
Book Pa Rubin Barney Rubin Group Rutledge Ecenia Shannon
Ratliff Shook Hardy & Bacon (Tobacco Industry law
firm)
Tobacco Industry law firm based in Kansas City,
KS.
Sinsheimer Group Southern
Strategies Spearman Management Stateside Associates Steel
Hector Stock Video Trice Talent Services Texas Civil
Justice League Virgil Scudder + Associates ABC
Blueprinting
Because the issue of tort reform has come up during the
presidential campaign, I think re-sending this July 6, 2004 doc-alert
from Philip Morris titled "Tort Reform Project Budget" dated 03 Oct
1995, through doc-alert would be timely. It is important that the
public at large and our elected officials be clear as to the force
behind this tort reform movement. In this alert you appropriately
highlighted "...Our success in the tort battles in the past two
years has resulted in part from our ability to find non-tobacco industry
messengers to head our fight..." You also highlighted the
even more telling statement in the attached Covington & Burling
"Memorandum to the Tort Reform Police Committee, "Because these media
activities, to be effective, must not be linked to the tobacco
industry, we hope that significant industry funding
encourages other groups to make similar contributions to support such
activities."
There probably isn't a person in our
country who hasn't been personally affected by the death or illness of a
smoker. People have a right to know what influence the tobacco
industry has had on national policy, particularly in the area of tort
reform. I am delivering a copy of this doc-alert to my
Congressman, and hope others will share this information far and
wide. Please consider re-issuing this doc-alert.
Thank you,
Janet Lilienthal Massachusetts Tobacco Control Activist
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