Florida lawyers are rushing to beat a deadline today for individual claims against cigarette makers after the Florida Supreme Court overturned a $145 billion punitive-damage verdict--the biggest
in history--against Philip Morris USA in July 2006. The court upheld jury findings that the companies were negligent and sold defective products, however, which will apply in all the new
cases.
Stuart trial lawyer Willie Gary, who has filed more than 500 cases throughout the state, says the tobacco firms acted maliciously in an effort to "suck the money out" of
consumers. "Nobody has the right to put a product on the market...when they have the money and resources to hook you on it," he says.
Philip Morris, the biggest U.S. cigarette maker,
says it faces new Florida suits filed on behalf of about 1,700 dead and injured smokers so far. R.J. Reynolds has received claims from about 1,650 plaintiffs, says spokesman David Howard. Plaintiffs'
lawyers said the number of claims filed against the industry may reach 10,000.
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