Tobacco.org

Ill Fort Lauderdale man tackling Big Tobacco on his own 

Larry Williamson wants tobacco companies to pay him $15 million for his lung disease that stemmed from 51 years of smoking.

And he plans on doing so without an attorney, alone in his plaid button-down shirt on one side of the courtroom, facing well-dressed, well-paid tobacco attorneys at the defense table on the other side.

Williamson, 62, is representing himself in Broward County Circuit Court against tobacco giants R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris, Brown & Williamson and supermarket chain Winn-Dixie for "ruining his life," he said.

"I have a 100 percent chance of winning," said Williamson, who quit smoking two years ago.

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