DISCLOSURE OF TOBACCO FEES SOUGHT

Five of Missouri's Republican state senators want Attorney General Jay Nixon to disclose how much money private lawyers are to be paid as part of the tobacco settlement.

At least one legal expert says the legal fees should be disclosed.

The attorney general hired outside lawyers led by Springfield trial lawyer Thomas Strong to represent the state in its litigation against the tobacco industry.

Jean Maneke, a Kansas City lawyer who handles First Amendment and open-records issues for the Missouri Press Association, said: "This is money that the state would be obligated to pay. The tobacco industry is now paying it to attorneys on behalf of the state."

Maneke said the lawyers' bills aren't confidential records.

In a July 22 letter to Nixon, state Sen. Peter Kinder of Cape Girardeau and the other four senators asked for copies of all bills for payment of legal fees and expenses submitted by Strong and other lawyers that aided in representing the state.

Nixon responded in a letter Wednesday that the private lawyers won't be paid by the state.

"Every dollar of those expenses will be borne by the tobacco companies under the terms of the Master Settlement Agreement, the approval of which we are still seeking in the Eastern District Court of Appeals," Nixon wrote.

The attorney general said Strong hasn't submitted any legal bills to the state and won't in the future.

"Mr. Strong has granted the state a release from any obligation for his fees or expenses because he has agreed to look solely to the terms of the Master Settlement Agreement," Nixon wrote.

Even if the contract were in effect, Strong wouldn't be paid until the tobacco case has been resolved.

The senators wanted to know how much the legal fees would amount to if figured on an hourly basis. But Nixon said his office doesn't have a log of the hours that the outside lawyers spent working on the tobacco case.

The 46-state tobacco settlement could mean $6.7 billion for Missouri over the next 25 years.

Kinder said in April that the private lawyers hired by Nixon could receive more than $200 million in fees for very little work.

Under the draft agreement, the tobacco companies would reimburse states for all "reasonable expenses and in-house attorney fees."

Private lawyers for states could negotiate fee agreements with the tobacco industry or go through an arbitration process in which the fees would be set by a three-member panel.

Kinder points to the situation in Wisconsin as proof that outside lawyers stand to make exorbitant fees in the tobacco settlement.

Three private law firms whose lawyers represented Wisconsin in the tobacco settlement would be paid $75 million over five years.

Three state lawmakers in Wisconsin recently went to court to ask a judge to nix an agreement that would have paid private lawyers more than $3,000 an hour for the work they did on the case. Lawyers for the three firms documented spending 24,895 hours on the case.

The Wisconsin lawmakers want the tobacco firms to pay the state, which would then pay the lawyers a "reasonable" hourly fee and return the remainder of the money to the state.

Kinder wants a similar arrangement in Missouri.

Kinder said Thursday that he and the other senators plan to ask Strong to disclose the fee information just as they have asked Nixon to do.

"What is raised here is a freedom of information issue," said Kinder.

"Why the cover up?" asked Kinder. The state senator accused Nixon of using an "illegal side agreement" to prevent the disclosure of the legal fees.

Kinder last August filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of Nixon's hiring of outside lawyers to handle the state's tobacco case. A Cole County circuit judge subsequently upheld Nixon's action.

Kinder has appealed. The case is being handled in the Western District Court of Appeals in Kansas City.

Both sides have filed briefs and are waiting for oral arguments to be scheduled.

Ultimately, the case is expected to be appealed to the Missouri Supreme Court, Kinder said.