A class-action lawsuit charging major tobacco companies [3] and a public relations firm [4] with a "decades-long campaign of deceptive advertising and misleading statements" can proceed, ruled the California Supreme Court. The suit is being brought against cigarette makers Philip Morris [5], R.J. Reynolds [6] and Lorillard [7], and the PR firm Hill & Knowlton [8]. The suit was originally filed in 1997, but changes to California's class-action requirements put its status in question. The recent ruling affirms that the case can proceed as a class-action suit, with "only a handful of plaintiffs leading the suit" required to "show proof of damage and deception, not all plaintiffs in the suit."