Stock image. 

Update 4/21/17: Parties to the suit settled their case Friday, three days before jury selection was scheduled to begin in the case. Terms of the settlement were not immediately released. 

Lawrenceville, GA—Jury selection is set to begin in Gwinnett County State Court Monday over a former frozen food worker's claim that years of exposure to an artificial butter flavoring caused his lung disease. Anderson v. Illes Food Ingredients, 10-C-15420-S4. 

Stock image. 

Tallahassee, FL—A Florida state appeals court last month upheld an $11 million verdict against tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds for the throat cancer that took a former smoker’s larynx.

a plaintiff can recover “the full value of a deceased’s life” in a Georgia wrongful death suit. However, where the bulk of a damage claim is for non-economic value, or what made the lost life at the heart of a case special, the damages argument becomes more complicated. In a wrongful death case involving a 22-year-old hairstylist and mother of two, Trent Speckhals’ closing argument emphasized the importance of non-economic damages and helped deliver a hefty award. Mitchell v. The Estate of Otis South, 09A03669.

Michael Mittelmark delivers his closing argument at trial against Tenet St. Mary's, accused of negligence that left Kwai Ling Chan-Leung following surgery for a stroke. 

West Palm Beach, FL—A $39 million medical malpractice claim against a South Florida hospital ended in mistrial Friday after jurors declared themselves deadlocked over whether operating room negligence or a catastrophic stroke left a patient in a persistent vegetative state. Chan v. Tenet St. Mary’s Medical Center, 2015CA008359.