Tobacco.org

Ex-Crooner Takes on Tobacco Companies in Brooklyn Smoker Case 

Lennie Forrest had big dreams, a record deal and a voice that Cash Box magazine compared to Al Jolson's. Leonard Finz had a law degree, a wife and plans to start a family. . .

Now 75, Finz is again at center stage, applying his dramatic and vocal skills in a Brooklyn courtroom on behalf of a cancer- stricken smoker in the first tobacco liability case tried in New York. A jury may get to judge his performance sometime today. . .

In the trial now winding down in Brooklyn, Finz is representing 57-year-old Clyde Anderson . . .

During his closing argument Tuesday, Finz, ever the showman, may have deliberately provoked an objection from opposing counsel Stephen Kaczynski, who represents R.J. Reynolds Holdings Inc., by violating Kramer's order not to refer to the tobacco companies collectively as ``Goliath.''

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