Scott Schlesinger tells jurors tobacco industry marketing was designed to hide the dangers of smoking and led to Virginia Varner's icotine addiction and death. Varner's husband Joseph is suing R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, makers of the cigarettes his wife smoked.
Fort Lauderdale, FL—Attorneys battled over whether tobacco industry deception or a smoker’s own decisions caused her fatal lung cancer, as trial opened against R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris Tuesday. Varner v. R.J. Reynolds.
Topics: Negligence, Products Liability, tobacco, Engle Progeny, Florida, Varner v. R.J. Reynolds
Kenneth Reilly delivers his closing statement for Philip Morris, accused along with R.J. Reynolds of responsibility for Myra Sermons' lung cancer and emphysema. Jurors found the companies liable but awarded only $133,300, a fraction of the more than $4.7 million Sermons' son sought in compensatory damages alone.
Jacksonville, FL—While the nation’s two largest tobacco companies were found partially liable for causing a Florida smoker's lung disease and cancer, jurors placed the lion’s share of responsibility on the smoker and awarded only a fraction of the damages her son sought. Sermons v. R.J. Reynolds, 2008-CA-000397.
Topics: Negligence, tobacco, Florida, Sermons v. R.J. Reynolds
Miami—Jurors Tuesday cleared R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris of fault for the lung cancer that killed a Florida smoker. Mooney v. R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris, 2011-CA-40815.
Topics: Negligence, Products Liability, tobacco, Florida, Mooney v. R.J. Reynolds
Plaintiff attorney Andrew Rainer delivers his opening statement. Click here to see video from the trial.
Jacksonville - A Massachusetts-based personal injury firm taking its first ‘Engle progeny’ tobacco case to trial squared off against two of the industry’s most experienced litigators in a Florida state courtroom on Thursday.
Topics: Products Liability, tobacco, Florida
Plaintiffs' attorney Allan Kaiser delivers his opening statement. Click here to see video from the trial.
Miami - A Florida state court jury heard opening arguments on Monday in a lawsuit filed against R.J. Reynolds Inc. and Philip Morris USA by the widow of a woman who began smoking cigarettes as a teenager and died of lung cancer, accusing the companies of intentionally withholding the dangers of smoking from the public for years.
Topics: Products Liability, tobacco, Florida
