Fee Cut for Texas tobacco Lawyer
05/07/99
Texas lawyer Mr. Mark Murr, abruptly withdrew his claim for $260 million in legal fees from the Texas tobacco case on Thursday and settled for $1 million instead.
Mr. Murr, a friend of former Attorney General Dan Morales, had earlier requested $260 million in legal fees. However, other private attorneys who had worked on the tobacco case said that Murr had done little or nothing in the case to achieve the settlement. Current Texas Attorney General John Cornyn accused both Dan Morales and Mark Murr of trying to secure the payment by fraud. He accused his predecessor and Murr of falsifying signatures and backdating two contracts in which Murr was hired to represent Texas in its suit against the tobacco industry. Morales denied all such claims. However, amidst all this controversy, Murr decided to accept a fee of $1 million as set by a national arbitration panel.
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