Capping Lawyers’ Tobacco Fees
WASHINGTON--One of Shakespeare’s characters wanted to "kill all the lawyers." Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo) just wants to cap their legal fees, at least in any national tobacco agreement. In introducing a bill to limit any legal fees from a settlement to $150 an hour plus expenses, Rep. McInnis noted that some states have entered into contracts with private attorneys that called for payments of up to 25% of funds collected from tobacco cases.
WASHINGTON--One of Shakespeares characters wanted to "kill all the lawyers." Rep. Scott McInnis (R-Colo) just wants to cap their legal fees, at least in any national tobacco agreement. In introducing a bill to limit any legal fees from a settlement to $150 an hour plus expenses, Rep. McInnis noted that some states have entered into contracts with private attorneys that called for payments of up to 25% of funds collected from tobacco cases.
"I hope this legislation will serve to initiate the debate regarding how the money from a tobacco settlement deal is to be allocated," he said. "I believe that the funds would best be used to prevent underage smoking, not to line the pockets of a few trial attorneys."
For example, lawyers in the recent multibillion dollar Texas settlement stand to collect $2.2 billion under their contract with the state.
![We must work on clinical predictors based on the disease phenotype, we must work on the physician’s attitude, and [we must work to] stimulate the correct and timely usage of ruxolitinib.](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sanity.io%2Fimages%2F0vv8moc6%2Fcancernetwork%2Fd5a069c33bbfe917bc7c0b1bb13d76c0a815cc44-234x234.png%3Ffit%3Dcrop%26auto%3Dformat&w=3840&q=75 "We must work on clinical predictors based on the disease phenotype, we must work on the physician’s attitude, and [we must work to] stimulate the correct and timely usage of ruxolitinib.")
