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Brooklyn Jury in Smoker's Trial Issues First Punitive Damages Award On East Coast in a Tobacco Case -- $20 Million 

Edward L. Sweda, Jr., Senior Staff Attorney for the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law attended the punitive damages hearing. He notes that, "the jury was clearly repulsed by the reprehensible conduct of Brown and Williamson, the Tobacco Institute, and the Council for Tobacco Research. They sent a clear message to the entire tobacco industry that conduct which values profits over the lives of consumers will not be tolerated in our society."

Mark Gottlieb, also a staff attorney with TPLP, added that, "this historic verdict combined with an appellate ruling in New York last month that makes it significantly easier for plaintiffs to present evidence of industry wrongdoing to juries in these cases will likely result in a marked increase in tobacco litigation in New York state in 2004 and the foreseeable future. This verdict also comes during the week the the tobacco industry is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of a full page newspaper ad that ran in more than 400 papers promising to thoroughly investigate claims that smoking harms health. Today's verdict may have cut those celebrations a bit short."

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