State of Missouri, ex rel. Jeremiah W. (jay) Nixon v. American Tobacco Company, Inc…

Summary

The court affirmed the denial of all proposed interventions because none of the applicants demonstrated an interest that the settlement impaired or impeded, and it affirmed judgment on the pleadings against the taxpayers' challenge to the special-counsel fee arrangements. The court held that the attorney general had common-law authority to arrange for tobacco defendants to pay special counsel directly, subject to the State's client-consent requirement and the General Assembly's power to prohibit or alter the arrangement. It also held that the challenge to fees from funds at stake was inapplicable, treated the dismissal language as surplusage, and found the attorney-fee request moot.