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Tallahassee, FL— Attorneys Monday battled over responsibility for the late-night crash that left a Florida woman with catastrophic brain damage, as retrial opened against the bars that served two underage drinkers. Faircloth v. Cantina 101, et al., 2015-CA-002778. 

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Atlanta, GA— Jurors Friday cleared an Atlanta-area jazz club of fault for a fall that a patron claimed left her with serious back and hip injuries. Spencer-Smith v. Volunteer Restaurant Associates, et al., 17EV000950.

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Miami, FL— A Florida smoker died of cancer after decades of believing tobacco marketing concerning filtered cigarettes, an attorney for the man’s family said Wednesday, as trial opened against the country’s two largest tobacco companies. Fields v. Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, 2008-CA-1274. 

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Boston, MA— Jurors Wednesday handed down a $21 million verdict against Philip Morris for the role it found the tobacco giant played in a Massachusetts smoker’s death. Laramie v. Philip Morris, 17CV02240. 

The most successful defenses often go beyond simply arguing broken links in a plaintiff’s case. Typically, they also persuasively raise an alternate causation theory in which the defendant is not liable. At trial over a long-time smoker’s death, Kathryn Lehman’s closing argument masterfully employs that strategy to help clear one of the nation’s largest tobacco companies of liability.