The Appellate Division, First Department, yesterday shut down Justice Charles E. Ramos’ sua sponte inquiry into a $625 million fee award to the six firms that represented New York state in a lawsuit against the tobacco industry that netted a $25 billion settlement.
Though finding “laudable” Justice Ramos’ concern that the fee award might be “excessive,” Justice Richard T. Andrias found him wrong, and in instances dead wrong, on every legal conclusion he had to reach in order to proceed with his inquiry. Even Justice Ramos’ concern over the amount of the fees was based on a factual “misapprehension” and was reached by reviewing the fee award out of context, Justice Andrias wrote for a unanimous panel in State of New York v. Philip Morris, 1360N.
