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Major
Tobacco Litigation Conference
Boston --- A Los Angeles jury has dealt Philip Morris a stunning defeat in the punitive damages phase of an individual lung cancer trial. The thirteen person jury returned the largest punitive damages award ever issued in an individual case: $28 billion. On September 26th, the same jury issued a $850,000 verdict in the compensatory damages phase to plaintiff Betty Bullock, who is dying from lung cancer. Plaintiffs have persuaded California juries to issue punitive damages in four consecutive cigarette trials. Next month, the Tobacco Products Liability Project will host a conference in San Francisco for attorneys who are setting their sights on Philip Morris and other cigarette manufacturers featuring Mike Piuze, Madelyn Chaber, Chuck Tauman, and others who have contributed to six plaintiffs' verdicts without a single loss on the West Coast since 1999. In August, the California Supreme Court issued a ruling that clarified the elimination of tobacco industry immunity from lawsuits in California, but prohibited evidence referring to industry conduct during the years 1988-1997. At that time, cigarette companies and several Wall Street industry analysts suggested that this was something of a victory for the tobacco industry because it would make it difficult for plaintiffs to sway juries without referring to evidence from this ten year restriction. The Bullock trial was the first trial in California since the Supreme Court ruling and strongly suggests that plaintiffs will not suffer from the court-imposed conduct exemption period. Philip Morris employed a new defense strategy in this case. Rather than presenting many expert and fact witnesses, the company only called a single witness in its defense. During the punitive damages phase of the trial, Philip Morris' attorney, Peter Bleakley, essentially told the jury that, while the company might have misbehaved in the past, the company is now so closely monitored that deterrence, in the form of punitive damages, was unnecessary. The jury obviously disagreed. The jury also rejected the plaintiff's attorney's request. Mike Piuze had only asked the jury for a punitive damages award of $20 billion. [Mike Piuze and the Bullock trial team will be discussing the trial with other plaintiffs' attorneys at next month's conference of the Tobacco Products Liability Project in San Francisco. See http://tplp.org for details.]
Commentary Northeastern University law professor Richard A. Daynard, who is also Chair of the Tobacco Products Liability Project (TPLP), noted that "we have seen an extraordinary change in the public's perception of tobacco companies and their behavior in the last few years as evidenced by 6 consecutive plaintiffs' verdicts on the West Coast. This comes at the same time that Philip Morris has spent hundreds of millions of dollars attempting to rehabilitate its public image." TPLP attorney Mark Gottlieb noted that, "after decades of futility in the courts, plaintiffs are now able to produce damning internal documents and witnesses against the tobacco giants and outraged juries are responding with punitive damages awards. Responses include last year's $3 billion punitive award in Piuze's prior cigarette case; $150 million in Portland, Oregon in March; and a whopping $144 billion in a Florida class action in 2000. These numbers are huge, and some have been reduced by trial judges, but how can you find an appropriate punishment for these companies' evil, greedy, and deadly behavior?" Edward L. Sweda, TPLP's Senior Attorney, observed that this is the first trial since the California Supreme Court eliminated most tobacco industry immunity in California with the exception of a 10 year window from 1987-1998. ``This shows that a talented and capable attorney is able to present a winning case in California without evidence from this 10 year conduct exemption. After learning the sordid details of Philip Morris' long history of corporate wrongdoing, this jury returned a powerful verdict to punish Philip Morris for its reprehensible misconduct and to deter it from similar wrongdoing in the future."
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Bullock complaint,
click here.
Also see our
Bullock Tobacco on Trial Special. |