Jump to full article: floridabiz.com (Daily Business Review), 2008-01-18
Author: Billy Shields
Intro: Lawyers on both sides of tobacco litigation now are looking toward the task of trying an estimated 5,000 cases known as "the Engle progeny." About 900 have been counted so far in South Florida. And the total number of cases is still unknown.
Plaintiff attorneys are bullish about the cases filed by last Friday's deadline, but tobacco attorneys contend several issues may take years to litigate.
"It's a fair fight for the first time in the history of tobacco litigation. There are probably 100 lawyers in Florida who are banding together for tobacco litigation, and [the defense] can't outwork us all," said C. Calvin Warriner III with Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley in West Palm Beach.
Although confident of their chances, plaintiff lawyers like Warriner are bristling for a time-consuming battle they fully expect to add more years to the 13-year-old Engle litigation named for a Miami Beach pediatrician with emphysema. . . .
"It's utter nonsense," said Kenneth J. Reilly, a partner with Shook Hardy & Bacon in Miami who represents industry leader Philip Morris and Lorillard. "We're forever characterized as stallers, but the fact is we try cases.
"We think cases need to be properly prepared and ready for trial, but to say we stall is just ridiculous."
The heated words follow the contentious aftermath of the complaint filed by husband-and-wife attorneys Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt . . .
"The reason there are so few Engle plaintiffs compared to the thousands 13 years ago was that the tobacco companies kept the ball in the air so long most of these people are dead," Gerson said.
"Who is going to cry for the 40-, 50- and 60-year-old surviving children of Mr. Lucacs?
"By outliving these victims [the tobacco companies] minimized their risk."
"The reason there are so few Engle plaintiffs compared to the thousands 13 years ago was that the tobacco companies kept the ball in the air so long most of these people are dead," Gerson said.
"Who is going to cry for the 40-, 50- and 60-year-old surviving children of Mr. Lucacs?
"By outliving these victims [the tobacco companies] minimized their risk."
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Quotes from this article:
The reason there are so few Engle plaintiffs compared to the thousands 13 years ago was that the tobacco companies kept the ball in the air so long most of these people are dead. Who is going to cry for the 40-, 50- and 60-year-old surviving children of Mr. Lucacs? By outliving these victims [the tobacco companies] minimized their risk.
Miami plaintiff attorney Philip Gerson, who is handling about 35 Engle cases.
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