Pa. wary of anti-tobacco effort

Lawyers are trying to craft a lawsuit against tobacco companies to provide for Pennsylvania's interests. The Associated Press State lawyers are trying to craft a lawsuit that will address the issue from the standpoint of Pennsylvania's interests, said spokesperson Sean Duffy. The process is complicated, but has been a priority for Attorney General Mike Fisher since he took office in January, Duffy said. ''It's a real complex piece of litigation,'' Duffy said. ''You want to make sure you do it right.'' Yesterday, officials of 22 states said the maker of Chesterfield cigarettes agreed to settle lawsuits by putting warning labels on cigarette packs that smoking is addictive and causes cancer. The company also agreed to pay the 22 states $25 million and 25 percent of pre-tax profits for the next 25 years. The Liggett Group also will cooperate in the continuing suits against other big tobacco companies. The settlement does not end state litigation against Liggett's competitors, nor affect more than 200 private lawsuits pending against cigarette manufacturers. Pennsylvania is not involved in the Liggett settlement, but can join in within six months and share in the settlement, Fisher said. ''This agreement will be of assistance to me and my office as we prepare our lawsuit against tobacco companies,'' Fisher said. ''We have preserved all of our options while at the same time putting the commonwealth in position to receive all the benefits of the Liggett settlement.'' Former Attorney General Tom Corbett said a year ago that his office was reviewing the tobacco issue to decide whether to go to court. When he left office in January, Corbett had not filed a case. Fisher announced during his campaign that, if elected, he would file a lawsuit against tobacco companies. His opponent, Philadelphia attorney Joe Kohn, had made the same pledge earlier, after five states announced a $10 million settlement with Liggett. Fisher said three weeks ago at a Senate budget hearing that the state's claim likely would exceed $1 billion and would be filed within a month. Duffy said Thursday the office is not likely to meet that goal. ''It's in development,'' he said of the suit. ''It's a couple of weeks away from fruition.'' The state's suit will amount to more than ''just joining in,'' Duffy said. Lawyers will have to determine a level of damages the state would seek and then prepare the actual complaint to file in court. ''It's not like filing a complaint for jaywalking,'' Duffy said. ''At the same time,'' said Kohn, whose legal practice has included filing class-action damage suits, ''a tremendous amount of work has been done by other state attorneys general.'' Kohn said Thursday that his campaign drafted a complaint for Pennsylvania to file against tobacco companies, and he considered presenting it to Corbett, but never did. As he said during the campaign, Kohn reiterated that Pennsylvania's sizeable elderly population could make it one of the bigger players in the tobacco litigation. ''Pennsylvania not only should be filing cases like this, but should be a leader because it will be the leaders who will determine what the terms will be,'' he said. ''It's not enough to sort of tag along.''

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