New York Judge Begins Query Into Tobacco Fees

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos told lawyers for six law firms that were awarded $625 million for their work in the state's 1998 tobacco settlement that he will examine whether the fee award is unethical. But several ethics experts say it is highly unlikely that any disciplinary body would find the lawyers had violated Disciplinary Rule 2-106, which bars the collecting of "an illegal or excessive fee."

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