While most people know Steven Yerrid as one of the lawyers who took on the Tobacco industry and won big, few know that Tampa's prince almost became a pauper as a result of his contentious legal battle.

      Because he had filed a lawsuit against the tobacco industry, all costs were assumed by the lawyers. "All of my personal assets were on the line," recalls Yerrid, adding that he was three weeks away from having nothing- even going as far as to mortgage his house-when the case was settled.

      Since the case settlement in 1997, which awarded Florida $13 billion and Yerrid more than $200 million in fees, he said that his life has "changed for the good and the better." Though the money has been nice, Yerrid said that the biggest benefit is the end of the constant stress that he was under.

      "The trial was one of survival. It was like the 15th round of a heavyweight prizefight," said Yerrid "The relief from that pressure has been a really great deal."

      The award has also given Yerrid the "ability to help in a much grander way." He has established the Yerrid Foundation, a not-for-profit corporation which donates money to various Tampa area charitable organizations. The foundation's operating budget is determined on an as-needed basis, and is funded solely by Yerrid.

      Over the course of the last year Yerrid has donated $25,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, $10,000 to the Children's Cancer Center Building Fund, $75,000 to The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Babies and Children, and $50,000 to his alma mater, Plant High, to fund a new lighting system for the school's baseball field.

      "Usually good things and success breed money." said Yerrid, adding that money does not necessarily breed success. "I have met a lot of people with money I would not call successful."

      Yerrid said that his return to fortune has also taught him a lot about the darker side of human nature. "It's been revealing," he said, adding that "It's amazing how money is the universal solvent, dissolving character."

      In December of 1998, Tampa lawyer Henry Valenzuela sued Yerrid, claiming that he was entitled to 10 percent of Yerrid's more than $200 million fee because he had been a member of Yerrid's firm until 1996. Valenzuela eventually lost the case and was ordered to pay Yerrid $172,000 in fees.

      "It evokes my sympathy when people wish they were there and wish to take credit," said Yerrid, adding that numerous politicians, who initially opposed the bill, have enjoyed spending the money Yerrid collected for the state. Describing examples such as these as "only reality checks," Yerrid said that overall the positives far outweigh the negative in regards to the experience.

      Despite the stress and the loss of three years where he focused solely on "one goal, one mission," Yerrid said that he has no regrets about his decision.

      "It was the right thing to do," he said. "This case will change the lives of generations to come," said Yerrid. "We saved countless lives, he added, citing the prohibitions regarding marketing to children and children's access to vending machines.

      "My (law) practice is designed to help others," said Yerrid, president of Yerrid, Knopik and Krieger. "I influence corporate change by translating pain, suffering and death into dollars and cents."

      It is a sense of duty, derived from Yerrid's own experience as a young child, when his parents, Fay and Charles, divorced when he was just seven years old. Forced to be the "man of the house" at such a young age instilled in him a sense of duty and purpose which has stayed with him throughout his life.

      "I learned to look for the good in people and things, to always have hope, to persevere and work hard, try my best at anything, and try to do what's right," he said.

      For Yerrid, taking on the tobacco industry had a personal element as well since both of his parents were three-pack-a-day smokers having died as a result of smoking related illnesses.

      In fact, when Yerrid discovered his mother dead at her Davis Island home, he found a cigarette in the ashtray beside her bead which had burned down to the ashes.

      "Law is the great equalizer," said Yerrid, adding that if it is used "correctly it dispenses equality."

      Yerrid, who recalls being intrigued by the law since he was a child watching the Perry Mason Show, said that in the future he might "make a run" at the insurance companies that practice medicine. Calling the issue a matter of "patient rights," he said that healthcare in America is a two-tiered system, with the poor and elderly receiving "second class treatment."

      When regulation does not work, Yerrid said, you have to try "getting attention at the bottom line."