Court Reverses Ruling on Tobacco Memo

WASHINGTON —  A federal appeals court sided Tuesday with a tobacco company that was trying to keep a potentially damaging memo out of the U.S. government’s $280-billion lawsuit against cigarette makers.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler erred when she said British American Tobacco must produce the memo because the company had, in effect, waived the right to protect the document under the claim of attorney-client privilege.

The appellate ruling means the company can continue to claim the document as privileged and try to keep it out of the massive civil racketeering case.

But the government can still challenge the claim in the lower court, where the trial continues.