The Florida Supreme Court recently over turned a $145 billion verdict rendered against big tobacco in a class action suit. The court in its 79 page decision held that the case should not have been certified as a class action suit on behalf of hundreds of thousands sick Florida smokers. The ruling however does not mark the end for all those sick plaintiffs seeking redress. Quite to the contrary, the opinion might actually end of helping out more in the long run as each plaintiff will now be allowed to bring their suit individually against the tobacco manufactures.
According to cnnmoney.com:
Though the decision means that Big Tobacco’s accountants can remove a major potential liability from their ledgers, the decision is by no means an unalloyed victory for the industry, an anti-smoking crusader said.
The ruling upheld the lower court’s findings that cigarettes cause a laundry list of diseases, that nicotine is addictive and that cigarettes were defective and unreasonably dangerous.
In addition, the court agreed that the industry concealed information about smoking’s dangers, that the defendants “agreed to misrepresent information relating to the health effects of cigarettes or the addictive nature of cigarettes,” and that the defendants were negligent.
That means those points will not have to be re-argued by future plaintiffs, said professor Richard Daynard, head of the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.
“This is a fabulous decision,” he told CNN. “It basically upholds the findings of the jury, and it provides a simplified procedure for every citizen of Florida” who has been injured by tobacco and wants to file a claim.
This ruling is expected to provide the landscape for all future claims involving smokers and their redress against big tobacco. Many attorneys are starting to evaluate cases involving such claims in an effort to address the hundreds of thousands of smokers who have been mislead and deceived about the effects of tobacco over the years. To speak with an attorney about your possible case involving big tobacco click here…
A partner with Childers, Schlueter & Smith, LLC,, Brandon Smith has devoted his practice to pharmaceutical litigation, mass torts, products liability and serious personal injury. A frequent guest speaker at legal seminars all over the country—Brandon is focused on helping injured victims nationwide, however possible. Named a SuperLawyer again in 2019, he has also been called out as one of 10 Best Attorneys For Georgia by the American Institute Of Personal Injury Attorneys and a Top 100 Lawyer in Georgia by the National Trial Lawyers in 2019.
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