Aug 4, 2008 10:06 pm US/Eastern
Montgomery, Attorney In Tobacco Lawsuit, Dies
PALM BEACH (CBS4) ―
Florida's lead attorney in an $11-billion lawsuit against US tobacco companies died Sunday night at Minnesota's Mayo Clinic. Robert Montgomery Jr. of Palm Beach, who helped win the landmark case, was 78.
Montgomery headed the legal team which went after the tobacco companies on the part of taxpayers, seeking reimbursement for Medicaid expenses related to health problems from smoking.
The parties reached an $11.3 billion settlement in 1997, making Florida the second state to reach its own settlement with tobacco companies over health care costs, before tobacco companies agreed to a much larger nationwide settlement.
Private attorneys later shared more than $2 billion in legal fees from the settlement.
Montgomery was also known for another landmark case, representing He Kimberly Bergalis in a notorious 1990 case in which she claimed she contracted HIV/AIDS from her dentist. Her dentist, David Acer, was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS 3 months before treating Bergalis, of Ft. Pierce, who claimed she was a virgin and did not use drugs.
Her lawsuit claimed the dentist was the only way she could have been infected.
Acer died in 1990, Bergalis in 1991. Her claims of no sexual experience were later the subject of intense debate.
The Alabama native graduated from the University of Florida Law School in 1957, then joined a law firm specializing in insurance defense work. He started his own law firm in 1975, specializing in personal injury cases.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Presidential Inauguration 2009
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
