Mike Moore (American politician)

Michael Cameron Moore (born April 3, 1952) is an American attorney and politician in the Democratic Party who was the Attorney General of Mississippi from 1988 to 2004.

Mike Moore
38th Attorney General of Mississippi
In office
January 12, 1988 – January 13, 2004
GovernorRay Mabus
Kirk Fordice
Ronnie Musgrove
Haley Barbour
Preceded byEd Pittman
Succeeded byJim Hood
Personal details
Born
Michael Cameron Moore

(1952-04-03) April 3, 1952
Pascagoula, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Letitia Moore
Children1
EducationUniversity of Mississippi (BA, JD)

Early life and education

Moore was born and raised in Pascagoula, Mississippi.[1][2] After completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Mississippi, Moore received his J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1976.[3][4]

Early political career (1977–1988)

In 1977, Moore became an assistant district attorney in Jackson County, Mississippi before being elected as the county district attorney in 1979. He was the youngest district attorney in Mississippi at the time of his election,[5] and served for two terms. In his first year as district attorney, Moore successfully convicted four of the five sitting Jackson County supervisors of corruption.[6]

Attorney General of Mississippi (1988–2004)

Moore first won election as Attorney General of Mississippi in 1987.[5] As Attorney General, Moore hired Richard Scruggs on a contingency basis to assist in efforts to remove asbestos from public places.[7]

In 1989, during his first term as Attorney General, Moore ran in a special election for the U.S. House of Representatives in the fifth congressional district (today the fourth) following the death of Representative Larkin I. Smith. Despite being the favorite among Democrats, Moore came in third in the initial round of balloting, behind Democratic state Senator Gene Taylor and Republican Tom Anderson. Taylor went on to defeat Anderson in the runoff.

Tobacco industry lawsuit
See also: Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement
Mike Moore (left) announcing the tobacco settlement agreement

In 1994, he filed the first lawsuit against thirteen tobacco companies, claiming that they should reimburse the State for the costs of treating those with smoking-related illnesses. Attorneys General from several other states joined the suit, with Moore as the lead negotiator. The settlement was worth $246 billion to the states, including $4.1 billion for Mississippi. The Michael Mann-directed film The Insider portrays some of the events leading up to this settlement; Moore played himself in the film.[3]

In 1997 the National Law Journal named him its Lawyer of the Year.[2] In 1998, Governing included him in its Public Officials of the Year honors.[8]

Private practice

Moore heads Mike Moore Law Firm LLC in Jackson, Mississippi.[9] He serves as the Chairman of the Board for the Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi.[10] Initially created to receive funding from a large tobacco settlement won on behalf of Mississippi victims, the court order providing this funding was later vacated after a suit was filed by then-Governor Haley Barbour.[11] Moore sits on the Board of Directors for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and on the Advisory Board of LegalShield.[12]

Moore is currently heading a coalition of states, cities, and counties launching a similar lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies, especially Purdue Pharma, for allegedly misleadingly marketing opioid painkillers, which they contend was a key driver of the current opioid epidemic.[3]

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References
  1. "An Attorney's Fall: From Billionaire To Inmate". NPR. December 22, 2010. Retrieved December 16, 2018. ...Mike Moore, another son of Pascagoula...
  2. "Mike Moore". Frontline: Inside the Tobacco Deal. PBS. Archived from the original on October 13, 1999. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  3. Deprez, Esmé E; Barrett, Paul (October 5, 2017). "The Lawyer Who Beat Big Tobacco Takes On the Opioid Industry". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  4. Landon, Michael (2006), The University of Mississippi School of Law: A Sesquicentennial History, Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, p. 172, ISBN 1578069181
  5. "About Your Attorney General". Mississippi Office of the Attorney General. Archived from the original on December 18, 2003. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  6. Sack, Kevin (April 6, 1997). "Tobacco Industry's Dogged Nemesis". The New York Times. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  7. Boyer, Peter J. (May 19, 2008). "The Bribe". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  8. Mahtesian, Charles (December 1998). "Big Tobacco's Nemesis". Governing. Archived from the original on October 2, 1999. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  9. "Who We Are | Mike Moore Law Firm".
  10. Partnership for a Healthy Mississippi website; accessed May 8, 2015.
  11. MS Supreme Court Decision, courts.ms.gov; accessed May 8, 2015.
  12. Board of Directors List Archived 2007-07-11 at the Wayback Machine, tobaccofreekids.org; accessed May 8, 2015.
Legal offices
Preceded by
Ed Pittman		 Attorney General of Mississippi
1988–2004		 Succeeded by
Jim Hood
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