A jury on Friday awarded nearly $100 million in additional fees to law firms that represented Massachusetts in the 1998 tobacco settlement, but rejected the firms' claim to billions more.The jury agreed with the firms that they deserved more than the $775 million they are already slated to receive, but rejected a claim that they are due the amount owed under their original contract, which would have amounted to a total of $2 billion through 2025 and $6.4 billion through 2050.
Under the jury's decision, the firms were awarded 10.5 percent of the money the state will receive from the settlement through 2025, up from the 9.33 percent they are currently getting. The difference adds up to an extra $96.5 million, according to the law firms' calculation.
From the AP via FindLaw.com here. (I'd linked to an earlier story about one of the tobacco lawyers who argued against awarding more fees to himself and his colleagues here.)