One of the trickiest parts of coordinating sprawling multijurisdictional cases is allocating attorneys and resources. When R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. was in payment negotiations related to a 1998 settlement agreement involving cigarette marketing and underage smoking, Jones Day deployed nine teams of attorneys to handle the claims.
In December, R.J. Reynolds resolved disputes with 17 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico concerning the tobacco company's pledge to limit the marketing of cigarettes to prevent underage smoking. Tobacco companies were required to shell out billions to states to support anti-smoking efforts. The settlement resolved payment claims between 2003 and 2012 and set guidelines for future payments. Reynolds will receive more than $1 billion in credits to be applied during the next five years. Jones Day attorneys served as lead counsel in nine of the 19 hearings before an arbitration panel. "This is what we do as a firm; being able to coordinate multijurisdictional, multi-office litigation," partner James Daly said.
