# Average Tobacco Settlement **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 5, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576 "2019-03-05T16:11:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/1 "2019-03-05T16:11:31Z")
My Sisters MiL dies of lung cancer and the tobacco company is offering a $200K settlement. Is this about average? I can’t seem to find any info on average settlement size. TIA ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/2 "2019-03-05T16:38:02Z")
Could that be because of non-disclosure agreements? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/3 "2019-03-05T16:53:48Z")
What does your family’s lawyer say. I’m guessing he has better information on what other lawyers are doing. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/4 "2019-03-05T17:01:15Z")
I believe it’s part of a class action - I’ll ask ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/5 "2019-03-05T18:15:01Z")
Since this will end up discussing legal advice, let’s move it to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/6 "2019-03-06T15:24:45Z")
Depends on the state, amount of the medical bills, life expectancy at death, and a host of other factors, so there’s really no way to say. That said, $200K seems rather low for a non-class action. IAAL, but not licensed in your state, this is not legal advice, yada yada. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2019, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/average-tobacco-settlement/830576/7 "2019-03-06T16:02:08Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Depends on the state, amount of the medical bills, life expectancy at death, and a host of other factors, so there’s really no way to say. That said, $200K seems rather low for a non-class action. IAAL, but not licensed in your state, this is not legal advice, yada yada. It’s really fact dependent. Liability is tough, the defense wins a lot of cases. The cost to bring a case to trial can be $200,000 or more. Big verdicts have started happening, but cannot be assumed. Many jurors blame the smoker for smoking, despite accepting the fact that tobacco company may have lied, covered up, and conspired. Short answer, $200,000 is a good offer for some cases, and not for others.