Lawyer who exposed tobacco fraud dies of cancer

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, December 11, 2001

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS — Wendell Gauthier, an attorney who won billions of dollars for victims in court battles over silicone breast implants and hotel fires before taking on the tobacco industry, died Tuesday. He was 58.

The cause of death was liver cancer, said Julie Calzone, spokeswoman for Gauthier’s law firm.

Gauthier had a striking record of legal victories, winning huge judgments for victims of the 1982 crash of Pan Am Flight 759 in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, hotel fires in 1980 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and in 1986 at the DuPont Plaza in Puerto Rico, and for women claiming injuries from the silicone-gel implants.

But it may be a lawsuit that he lost that made Gauthier’s legal mark. Secret tobacco company documents unearthed by his legal team provided valuable ammunition to force cigarette-makers into a historic $246 billion settlement with the states.

"He never found a fight that he was afraid to fight," said Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, the lead counsel for the states. "He was someone who was always willing to represent the underdog, to try unbroken ground."

Although there had been previous suits focusing on smoking as a cause of illness or death, Gauthier changed direction. His suit targeted manufacturers for consumer fraud, claiming the cigarette industry had hidden its knowledge of the health hazards of smoking for years and had manipulated the nicotine level of cigarettes to keep smokers hooked.

Gauthier’s suit was dismissed. However, others based on the same legal claim were later filed in the name of all 50 states, leading to the 1998 settlement.

"I’m not a good Samaritan," Gauthier said in a 1993 interview. "I’m in it to make money. But you like to think that you can cure some social ills. And tobacco is a deadly ill, a social ill."

Phil Whittmann, a veteran civil defense attorney, called Gauthier "one of the best I’ve ever faced."

"He had a way with juries that was absolutely remarkable," Whittmann said. "At the same time, he got along with his adversaries and conducted himself in an ethical and trustworthy manner."

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