Lawyers who won a $45 million settlement for Arkansas Marlboro Lights smokers will now receive a $1.9 million payment for the case.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox approved the reimbursement for the lawyers’ expenses on Monday.
The funds approved are less than the $2.2 million the attorneys, who represent 11 firms, originally asked for.
The approved reimbursement brings the total amount authorized by court to $31.2 million.
Last week Fox ordered that $18.9 million go to smokers who filed a claim on the money.
A schedule for the distribution of the money has not been released.
The reimbursement is for the attorneys’ expenses for the 13-year-old case against Philip Morris USA, in which lawyers complained the company misled Lights smokers to think those cigarettes were safer than the original ones.
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