WebWire | News by Industry : Tobacco http://www.webwire.com/ Tobacco News by WebWire en Copyright © 2012 WebWire. All Rights Reserved. Sat, 4 Feb 2012 01:48:20 EST WebWire | News by Industry : Tobacco 140 32 http://www.webwire.com/ http://www.webwire.com/imgs/webwire_logo_140x32.gif Searcy Denney Law Firm Reports $3.5 Million Verdict in Tobacco Litigation http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=152255 Wed, 1 Feb 2012 18:11:45 EST West Palm Beach, FL – Attorney Brian Denney announced that a Highlands County jury awarded Theodore Hallgren $3,500,000.00 against Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company for the wrongful death of his wife, Claire Hallgren, who died of lung cancer after nearly 60 years of smoking cigarettes made by those companies. The verdict includes $1,500,000 in punitive damages against the defendants.
 
Brian R. Denney and T. Hardee Bass of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, represented Mrs. Hallgren's husband, Theodore Hallgren, now 92.  The attorneys stated that the evidence in the trial showed that Mrs. Hallgren started smoking as a teenager, and was already a regular, daily smoker by the time she was sixteen years old in 1938, nearly 30 years before the first warning labels ever appeared on cigarette packs.  Under the standard required by the Florida Supreme Court's "Engle" decision, the plaintiff needed to prove that Mrs. Hallgren was addicted to nicotine and nicotine addiction caused her death.
 
Mr. and Mrs. Hallgren met at Chicago's Hurst High School in 1938.  They married in 1942, shortly before Mr. Hallgren, a Captain in the United States Army, was deployed to the Europe to fight in World War II.  After the war, the Hallgrens settled in the Chicago area, before moving to Florida in 1975.  They were married for 54 years.
 
'The jury in this case was presented with a lot of evidence of tobacco industry conduct and practices, covering a large span of time,' Denney said.  'The jury's verdict is not only an indication that they understood the addictive power of nicotine and how Mrs. Hallgren fought to overcome that addiction; it is also a recognition that these defendants deserved punishment for their intentional misconduct, which included directly marketing cigarettes to children knowing full well they caused lung cancer and were addictive and lying to generations of Americans regarding the danger and addictiveness of their product for one reason –money.'
 
'Mrs. Hallgren is another tragic example of a tobacco industry success story, someone who started smoking as a child decades before warning labels were placed on cigarette packages, who became addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes, and who was unable to break that addiction before it was too late,' said Denney.
 
'Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company are forced to stand equal to people like 92 year old Mr. Hallgren within the four walls of a courtroom, whereas outside of the justice system they are able to wield their influence through their financial means.  When fair-minded people hear the evidence in these cases, the common tobacco industry defense themes are flatly rejected.' Said Attorney Hardee Bass
 
A spokesperson for the Searcy Denney law firm said that this case marks eight straight plaintiff's verdicts in Engle progeny tobacco suits by the lawyers for Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley.

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]]> Class Actions / Lawsuits Financial Markets Media Advisory Tobacco WebWireID152255 Article Plaintiffs Win Again in Engle Progeny Tobacco Cases http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=152156 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:32:46 EST On January 26, 2012, an Escambia County jury awarded Erskin Donal Ward $2.7 million against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Liggett Group, LLC, in case number 2008-CA-2135, filed in the First Judicial Circuit, in Escambia County, Florida.
 
The lawsuit filed in the case alleged that Erskin Ward's wife, Mattie Emma Ward, died of emphysema after nearly 50 years of smoking cigarettes made by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Liggett Group, LLC Philip Morris USA, Inc.
 
Erskin Ward's attorney, James Gustafson said that the jury verdict included $1.7 million in punitive damages against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
 
James W. Gustafson, Jr. of Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley in Tallahassee, Florida, along with Matt Schultz of the Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Echsner & Proctor firm in Pensacola, Florida represented Mrs. Ward's husband, Erskin Donal Ward, now 76.
 
Mr. Gustafson stated that evidence in the trial demonstrated Mrs. Ward started smoking as a thirteen year old in rural Alabama in 1949, almost 20 years before the first warning labels ever appeared on cigarette packs.  Under the standard required by the Florida Supreme Court's "Engle" decision, the plaintiff needed to prove that Mrs. Ward was addicted to nicotine and nicotine addiction caused her death.
 
"The jury's work and patience in this trial showed," Gustafson said. "The verdict is not only a tribute to a woman who was a treasure to Pensacola and the special education community, but to the hard work the jury did to understand how much things have changed in the past 50 years--and the need to punish R.J. Reynolds for its intentional outrages, what they did to a generation of Americans, including hawking cigarettes to children.'
 
"Mrs. Ward is another tragic example of the best among us, someone who started smoking as a child decades before the warnings, and was killed by addiction to nicotine," said Gustafson.
 
Sources at the Searcy Denney law firm said that this verdict marks eight successive plaintiff's verdicts in Engle progeny tobacco suits by the lawyers for Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley.  "The industry keeps saying they're changing the legal landscape, that they have such powerful defenses to these cases.  When good people see the truth, those defenses are the same glass houses of deceit they always were." said James Gustafson.

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