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Lakeland, FL— A Florida appeals court this week upheld a $3.75 million award against R.J. Reynolds for the death of a long-time smoker, but certified a conflict between appellate jurisdictions over which punitive damages law applies to this and similar cases in the state's long-running Engle progeny litigation.

A common defense in automotive product liability trials is that the driver, not a vehicle defect, caused the crash at the center of the case. However, a vehicle’s own diagnostic system often provides the key to a plaintiff’s argument. In closings at trial against Nissan North America over a crash that killed three people, Brett Turnbull focus on an SUV's error code set up an eight-figure verdict for the plaintiffs.

Alex Alvarez, left, and Steven Geise, right, deliver their closing arguments at trial against R.J. Reynolds over the lung cancer an Oregon woman developed after decades of smoking Camel-brand cigarettes.

Portland, OR— Jurors Friday afternoon cleared R.J. Reynolds of responsibility for the terminal lung cancer an Oregon woman developed after decades of smoking the company's cigarettes, concluding what is likely the first in-person, state court tobacco trial in nearly a year. Rickman v. R.J. Reynolds, 19CV28636. 

As the last chance for a plaintiff’s attorney to speak to a jury before deliberations, a powerful closing rebuttal can be critical. And in a recent CVN webinar on closing techniques that led to a quartet of blockbuster verdicts, Fried Goldberg’s Joseph Fried detailed what he considers one of the most important considerations in preparing points for rebuttal. 

Plaintiff’s attorneys often have to overcome a jury’s tendency to engage in defensive attribution, or the mindset that the circumstances underlying an accident couldn’t happen to them. But in a recent webinar discussing Sean Claggett’s $16.4 million verdict for the traumatic brain injury a woman suffered in a slip-and-fall at a Lowe's store, Claggett and legendary trial consultant David Ball discussed how Claggett overcame that juror mindset, and flipped a potential weakness in the case to his advantage.