For a firm that handles an array of complex securities, antitrust and employment cases, Korein Tillery has retained a daredevil attitude more common among tech startups. “We take enormous risks,” said Stephen Tillery. “We’re gambling right along with the client.”
Korein Tillery invested years in a class action against Philip Morris USA Inc. over its “light” labeling of certain cigarettes. The case, which began in 1999, hit a snag when the $10.1 billion verdict was overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2005. But the firm waited, Tillery said. “We were patient,” he said. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2008 in Altria Group Inc. v. Good that cigarette companies could be sued for deceptively advertising cigarettes as “light,” Korein Tillery went to court again. In April, the firm prevailed. An Illinois appellate court reinstated the historic mutlibillion-dollar verdict against Philip Morris.
