Judge Finds No Unethical Conduct In U.S. Tobacco’s $24M Class Settlement

Mealey's (April 3, 2020, 3:43 PM EDT) -- RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on March 30 granted a motion to clarify a previous order as to the adequacy of class counsel in a class action previously settled for $24 million, finding that, contrary to an earlier and now-vacated state court order, plaintiff and defense counsel in the federal case and a competing state court class action did not violate the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct or otherwise engage in unethical conduct (Teresa M. Speaks, et al., v. U.S. Tobacco Cooperative, Inc., No. 12-729, E.D. N.C., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53654)....