For the Journal Everyone likes to think that lawyers roll in the money. Clients often complain about legal fees.
Law practice makes few attorneys wealthy.
However, anti-tobacco litigation in 1998 made a few lawyers rich beyond dreams of avarice. Florida, Mississippi and Texas were the first three states to settle with the tobacco industry. You may think I spelled that wrong. For many years, plaintiffs' attorneys took on the tobacco companies. They sought damages for deaths caused by smoking.