* Some powerful trial lawyers have already forced one Illinois Supreme Court Justice to recuse himself from hearing the appeal of a $10.1 billion judgement against Philip Morris, but they haven’t been able to convince Justice Lloyd Karmeier to back away…

Karmeier said no, noting that Tillery and Co. “do not allege I harbor any actual bias for or against” either party. Instead, he said, they contend “various factors have combined to create ‘an objective and reasonable public perception’ that I am biased in favor of” Philip Morris because of the “unprecedented sums” spent in his 2004 election.Karmeier further noted that financial records reveal no donations to his 2004 campaign by Philip Morris, despite Tillery’s claim that it was “bankrolling” it. […]

“The notion that” Philip Morris financed “my run for office 10 years ago is just that, a notion,” he said.

Karmeier said he also “cannot help but notice” Tillery’s motion “bear(s) an unmistakable similarity to materials filed by the plaintiffs” in another big judgment case, involving State Farm Insurance.

“The only difference here is that the respondents here claim that those same contributions should be attributed to (Philip Morris) rather than State Farm,” he wrote.

* As I told subscribers the other day, a new group called Campaign for 2016 dropped well over a half million dollars to try and derail Karmeier’s retention bid…

* From a Karmeier campaign press release this afternoon…

It took less than a day for the shadow group known as “Campaign for 2016″ to emerge from the darkness, according to Retain Karmeier Campaign Manager Ron Deedrick.

“Now there is a public record of the political committee ‘Campaign for 2016,’ and it’s clear that a number of trial attorneys with deep pockets are working in concert to protect their investment in cases they are litigating,” Deedrick said. “A direct line can be drawn from those who seek to defeat the Justice and who have current cases before the courts, including the Illinois Supreme Court.

‘Campaign for 2016’ scored a $300,000 donation on October 16 from Chicago-area attorney George Zelcs. Zelcs is an attorney with the law firm of Korien Tillery, LLC based in St. Louis. Media accounts show that Zelcs is a lead attorney tied into a multi-billion dollar case that is now before the Illinois Supreme Court. The same media accounts also show that the class-action lawsuit could net more than $10 billion for the plaintiffs.

“The timing of this attack is questionable as well. The Justice entered an order back on September 24 that rejected the Tillery group’s efforts to obtain his recusal from the case,” Deedrick said. “This is likely a personal political response to the Justice’s order.”

*** UPDATE *** Another $500K was reported by the Campaign for 2016 this afternoon. An attorney with the above-mentioned Korein Tillery, the Power Rogers & Smith firm and Clifford Law Offices all kicked in.