Ill. appeals court revives cigarette lawsuit

Associated Press

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill.

A lawsuit that led to a $10.1 billion verdict against cigarette-making Philip Morris USA before it was tossed out by the Illinois Supreme Court has been revived by a lower court, sending the case back to the county once tagged as among the nation’s most lawsuit-friendly turfs.

The unanimous ruling Thursday by the three-judge panel of the Mount Vernon-based 5th District Appellate Court cleared the way for the plaintiffs to argue that a favorable 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision in an unrelated case may be applied to reinstate the questioned Madison County one involving Philip Morris’ marketing of “light” cigarettes.

Philip Morris, which can appeal Thursday’s order to the state’s high court, said Saturday in a statement it would continue to fight. Former Illinois Gov. James Thompson, an attorney who was representing Philip Morris, argued then that the appellate court has no authority to decide whether the case can be reopened.