The American Tradition Institute a.k.a. ATI a.k.a. Energy & Environmental Legal Institute is a "think" tank that supports or engages in climate science denialism. You can read about it here and here.
In late November, the New Mexico attorney general announced a lawsuit in the Santa Fe County First Judicial District Court against Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds and other.
qui tam action in Arizona.
University of New Mexico law professor Joshua Kastenberg, who served as a lawyer and judge in the U.S. Air Force over 20 years, recalled a $117 million judgment against a federal defense contractor thanks to a fairly new government employee who caught something none of the other experts caught, and collected approximately $250,000. It s very narrow and it s very rare, Kastenberg said, because if two neighbors don t like each other you can imagine what they ll do in the courts.
Qui tam has historical roots in English common law, which allowed individuals to prosecute other individuals on behalf of the government, but Kastenberg said U.S. law largely abolished that ability.