Three Texas plaintiffs lawyers who received about $600 million in fees from Texas’ tobacco-litigation settlement face possible federal tax penalties on the income, under a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opinion issued on Jan. 23.

But an attorney who represents the three lawyers—Harold Nix, C. Cary Patterson and Nelson Roach—said those penalties are merely provisional, and his clients will have a chance to show that they acted reasonably and in good faith.