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Their
Day in Court: How to try and win
tobacco cases following the Florida
Supreme Court's Engle decision
See the Agenda
(pdf)
See List of Speakers
On
February 8th and 9th, 2007, the Tobacco Products Liability Project will
present a special two-day conference to help Florida trial lawyers try
and win individual smoker’s cases in Florida. On December 21, 2006, the
Florida Supreme Court affirmed its earlier decision in Engle v
Liggett et al. establishing the res judicata effect of jury
findings of cigarette company negligence and strict product liability
for the hundreds of thousands of Engle former class members.
Individual cases for compensatory and punitive damages must be filed
within one year of the Supreme Court mandate, expected to be issued
later this month. For additional information on the Engle case
and its effect, see
FAQs below.
The
conference will be held on February 8 and 9 (the Thursday and Friday
prior to the American Association for Justice [formerly ATLA]
Convention) at the
Wolfsonian Museum on Miami Beach. The registration fee for the
two-day seminar is only $395 thanks to support from the
Tobacco Trial Lawyers’ Association (TTLA). TTLA members may attend
at no charge.
The
conference will feature leading tobacco trial lawyers from Florida and
nationally addressing key questions such as:
1) What does the Florida
Supreme Court's Engle decision do?
2) Who benefits from the ruling?
3) What kinds of claims will be most efficient and effective?
4) What challenging strategies might the defendants use?
5) How can punitive damages claims be made effectively?
6) How will the courts manage these cases?
7) How can we share resources to bring as many successful cases as
possible?
8) What are the evidentiary
challenges of the medical case and the punitive damages case?
9) What use can be made of the
recent decision finding cigarette companies liable under federal RICO?
10) What resources are
available to help attorneys with no tobacco litigation experience?
Note:
Attendance is limited and registrants will be required to sign
affidavits stating that they do not and will not work for the
tobacco industry.
Online registration
has CLOSED.
Engle
v Liggett, et al.
FAQs
1.
How can I access the Engle decision?
The
final revised decision of the Florida Supreme Court is accessible at
www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2006/sc03-1856.pdf
2.
What liability findings are established as res judicata by the
Engle decision?
The
liability findings established by the Engle decision are as follows:
a) The tobacco companies were
negligent;
b) Their products are defective
and unreasonably dangerous;
c) Cigarettes are addictive;
d) Cigarette companies
conspired to conceal health and addiction information with the intention
of consumer reliance on the misinformation; and
e) Cigarette companies were
liable for breach of express warranty
3.
What general medical causation findings are established as res
judicata by the Engle decision?
The Engle decision established
that the following diseases are caused by smoking cigarettes:
1) Aortic aneurysm;
2) Bladder cancer;
3) Cerebrovascular disease;
4) Cervical cancer;
5) Chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease;
6) Coronary heart disease;
7) Esophageal cancer;
8) Kidney cancer;
9) Laryngeal cancer;
10) Lung cancer (specifically,
adenocarinoma, large cell carcinoma, small cell carcinoma, and squamous
cell carcinoma);
11) Complications of pregnancy;
12) Oral cavity/tongue cancer;
13) Pancreatic cancer;
14) Peripheral vascular
disease;
15) Pharyngeal cancer; and
16) Stomach cancer.
4.
What is the class definition for class members covered by the Engle
decision?
Engle
class members include the following:
All Florida citizens and
residents, and their survivors, who have suffered, presently
suffer or who have died from diseases and medical conditions caused by
their addiction to cigarettes that contain nicotine. The diseases and
medical conditions must have first manifested themselves by the class
cut-off date of November 21, 1996.
Richard A. Daynard
and Mark Gottlieb, TPLP Co-Chairs
Speakers and Panelists
Include:
Howard
M. Acosta,
Tampa, FL
Kenneth
Chesebro –
Austin, TX
Clifford
E. Douglas -
Tobacco Control Law & Policy Consulting – Ann Arbor, MI
Gary
Farmer - Law Offices of Freedland, Farmer, Russo & Sheller's
(tentative)
Allan
Feingold, M.D. South Miami Hospital
JB Harris - Miami, FL
Holly
Hostrop – Cathedral City, CA
Robert
W. Johnson –
Robert W. Johnson & Associates, Los Altos, CA
Michael
London – Douglas & London, P.C. New York, NY
Michael
Piuze – Los Angles, CA
David J.
Sales - Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, P.A.
(tentative)
Matt
Schultz - Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Echsner & Proctor,
P.A.
Stephen
Sheller -
Sheller, Ludwig & Sheller, P.C. – Philadelphia, PA
Robert
Shields - Doffermyre Shields Canfield Knowles & Devine – Atlanta,
GA
Chuck
Tauman – Portland, OR
Norwood
S. “Woody” Wilner
- Spohrer Wilner P.A.
Support provided by the
Tobacco Trial Lawyers’ Association (www.ttlaonline.com)
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