Source: Reuter

Florida governor stuns own aides with tobacco deal

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuter) Florida's lead attorney in its
lawsuit against U.S. tobacco firms said Monday he was ''stunned''
when Gov. Lawton Chiles got up at a dinner Sunday night and announced
an $11.3 billion settlement. ``I was dumbfounded. I had no earthly
idea that a settlement had been reached,'' Robert Montgomery said.
``We had spent the entire day talking ... about selecting a jury. I
felt we had a good jury and that we could have gotten a $12.3 billion
judgment.'' Florida was seeking $12.3 billion to recover the cost of
treating Medicaid recipients with smokingrelated illnesses and
punitive damages for the industry's alleged wrongful conduct in
promoting a product it allegedly knew to be dangerous. Montgomery
said he felt the key to the settlement came when Sheldon Schlesinger,
an attorney for the state, took the deposition of Philip Morris Cos.
Inc. Chief Executive James Morgan on July 31 in New York. It was
Schlesinger's ``take no prisoners attitude'' that finally made the
industry believe they could not win the case, Montgomery said. He
also said another turning point came three weeks ago when the tobacco
industry said it would not make concessions on the issue of
advertising to children. At that point, he said, Chiles declared
there would be no settlement. ``We were ordered to go to trial and to
try this case,'' Montgomery said. Ultimately ``the industry folded on
this point,'' Montgomery added. ^REUTER@