The Plaintiffs

"Over the last three and one-half years we have obtained, through the legal process, millions of the defendants' secret documents which had never before seen the light of day. These documents will bring to life the decades-long illegal conduct of the defendants through their own written words; yet in this courtroom you will see these defendants deny and try to explain away those words."
​-- Mike Ciresi, Attorney for the Plaintiffs, Opening Statement from Trial Transcripts, January 26, 1998
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robinskaplan.com
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bluecrossmn.com
The attorneys at Robins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi explored a different legal strategy from previous cases. The Plaintiffs:

  • Were a collection of organizations (a state and insurance company) instead of individual smokers.
  • Chose not to focus on the products’ dangers.
  • Focused on the tobacco industry’s conduct.
  • Sought to gain access to secret industry documents.

The problem with suing over an individual’s smoking-related health problems is the industry could always protect itself with one excuse: using tobacco is a personal choice. Minnesota therefore sought to gain access to and explore the industry’s internal documents, seeking to prove that the industry had withheld information about health effects it had promised to disclose.
Roberta Walburn, Partner, Robins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi. In-person interview, February 25, 2016
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Primary document source created by Robins, Kaplan, Miller, and Ciresi for State of Minnesota v. Phillip Morris Inc.
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Doug Blanke, Assistant Attorney General for Minnesota. Podcast by Office of the United States Surgeon General. 2014.
"We held the industry accountable for their conduct,      
​we disclosed the truth about Big Tobacco."
-- Andy Czajkowski, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield
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New York Times, January 26, 1998