Until now, he says, the companies have persuaded market analysts that the suits will not hurt them. Concern with liability suits began in 1984, peaked during 1987-88, but has quieted since then, according to Jennifer Coury, a tobacco industry analyst with Shearson Lehman Hutton. The costs of litigation are so high that Coury and other analysts believe lawyers will be unwilling to take tobacco cases. It is easy to see why attorneys have been reluctant to handle tobacco liability cases. While the tobacco companies hope to win their cases, a crucial component of their strategy is to make litigation extremely costly.
Plaintiffs have to find attorneys who are willing to spare no expense.
Daynard and other tobacco opponents hope that the Cippolone ruling will change this, making it less costly to sue and easier to win big verdicts against tobacco manufacturers. Even if tobacco suits become more prevalent, Philip Morris may be less vulnerable to them than its competitors. In the near and medium term future at least, slick advertising, brilliant marketing, international expansion and cagey legal maneuvering seem likely to enable Philip Morris not only to survive but to expand rapidly. The families of millions of deceased smokers should have no difficulty answering this query.