First individual Florida tobacco suit to begin this week
PointOfLaw Forum:
The Daily Business Review reports on the Hess case, the first individual trial resulting from the Florida Supreme Court’s rejection (discussed by plenty of us on this blog, in the day) of the massive Engle v Liggett class action against tobacco manufacturers.
To recall, in 2006 the Florida supreme court quite properly quashed a $145 billion plaintiffs’ verdict, the largest in U.S. history, and at the same time decertified the estimated class of 700,000 smokers, on the grounds that each smoker has individual proof issues that precluded a class action. But the Florida supremes tossed an important bone to any individual plaintiffs who would wish to sue: it allowed them to be able to rely on the class action jury’s finding that cigarette companies knowingly placed defective and unreasonably dangerous products on the market.
Of the 700,000 potential plaintiffs, about 1% elected to sue individually within the time frame allowed by the Florida supremes. Half of these cases are in state courts, and half have been filed in or removed to federal court. More on the federal cases below.
Elaine Hess, the widow of a smoker who died from lung cancer, will be first to the post next week in Broward County Circuit Court. Ms. Hess’s task is to prove her late husband would have been part of the class of sick Florida smokers that was disbanded by the 2006 court decision.
Circuit Judge Jeffrey Streitfeld has estimated that the trial will last about three weeks, which is about two weeks longer than plaintiffs’ lawyers had figured the individual suits would last. The judge will split the trial into three phases. The jury will be asked first if Mr. Hess was addicted to cigarettes and if that addiction caused his death. If the jury agrees that he was, the Engle findings would be…