Stock image.

Fort Lauderdale, FL—Attorneys Thursday debated the role tobacco marketing and nicotine addiction played in the death of a 71-year-old woman who smoked for more than half a century, as trial opened against the country’s two largest cigarette makers. Neff v. R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, 2007-CV-036745.

Stock image. 

Each month, CVN’s hottest-trials list highlights the most-watched and discussed trials from our video archive of hundreds of cases around the country. Our hottest trials in February include recent high-stakes trials as well as a slate of blockbuster cases that continue to resonate long after the juries delivered their verdicts.

One of the most effective ways to highlight a defendant’s alleged negligence is to walk jurors through a simple alternative that could have avoided the accident. During closings of a traumatic brain injury trial, Joe Fried vividly demonstrated such a hypothetical alternative and helped seal an eight-figure verdict in the case.