IN A TENSE court session yesterday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos told lawyers for six law firms that were awarded $625 million for their work in the historic 1998 tobacco settlement in no uncertain terms that he will examine whether the fee award is unethical.
The April 2001 decision of the arbitration panel that issued the award set off “a flashing light that got my attention” that the $625 million fee might violate the New York Code of Professional Responsibility’s proscription against illegal or excessive fees, Justice Ramos told the throng of lawyers that filled his courtroom on the second floor at 60 Centre Street.
