http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/lawsuit/engle.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://cbs4.com/health/smokers.fund.award.2.749120.html http://tobacco.org/news/267046.html Monday, June 16th, is the deadline for smokers who were diagnosed with or who have been treated for smoking related illness before November 21st, 996 to file for their share of the trust fund. Families of smokers who have died are also eligible; they must submit proof that their loved one's illness; cancer, emphysema and heart disease was linked to cigarette smoking. WFOR CBS4 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-fl_bb3bdigest06162sbjun16,0,3302334.story?track=rss http://tobacco.org/news/266991.html Today is the deadline for sick smokers and their families to apply for a share of a $600 million fund in a landmark Miami-Dade County case against the country's five biggest tobacco companies. In Engle vs. Liggett, a jury in 2000 awarded sick smokers and their families a record $145 billion. . . . To learn more call 888-420-1666 or go to www.engletrustfund.com. Sun-Sentinel Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/609101.html http://tobacco.org/news/265646.html Smokers, former smokers and family members of deceased smokers with documented histories of smoking-related illnesses prior to November 21, 1996 may qualify for a portion of a trust fund of approximately $600 million. Individuals have until June 16, 2008 to register their claim. The fund, known as the Engle Trust Fund, was created as a result of a class action lawsuit against tobacco companies. In April, the Miami-Dade County Circuit Court ruled that individuals have until June 16, 2008 to register their claims. Attorneys from the Schlesinger Law Offices, P.A. will hold an informational meeting to answer questions and explain the claims process to interested parties. Participants should bring copies of medical records or other relevant documents to the meeting. Thursday, May 22, 2008 Sheraton Suites Plantation Plantation III Meeting Room 311 N. University Drive State College Centre Daily Times wendy@coenandcompany.com Wed, 21 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://cbs4.com/local/smokers.fund.award.2.704874.html http://tobacco.org/news/263978.html Thousands of sick Florida smokers will be lining up to get their share of a $600 million fund created by major tobacco companies as part of a decade old lawsuit. In 1994, Miami Beach pediatrician Howard Engle and group of other smokers sued and won a case the cigarette makers for hiding the dangers of smoking and knowingly selling them a dangerous product. Those involved in the suit were awarded $145 billion in damages, but that award was thrown out in 2006 by the Florida Supreme Court. During the years of the trial, the major tobacco companies established a fund that would be paid out even if their appeal of the damage award failed. WFOR CBS4 Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://engletrustfund.com/ http://tobacco.org/news/263716.html A hearing was held on April 15, 2008, during which the Court made certain rulings related to the allocation and distribution of the Engle Trust Fund. A Notice outlining the next steps and a Registration Form will be mailed on April 25, 2008. If you have previously received a mailing regarding the Engle Trust Fund, you will automatically be included in the mailing on April 25, 2008. If you have not previously received a mailing regarding the Engle Trust Fund and if you would like to receive the mailing on April 25, 2008, please call 1 (888) 420-1666 and choose option 2 from the main menu. The Notice will be available on this website after April 25, Engle Trust Fund Website Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/501613.html http://tobacco.org/news/263711.html A $600 million trust fund set up to compensate smokers for illnesses will be distributed equally rather than on the severity of their illness or suffering, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court judge ruled Friday. Determining individual claims and the impact smoking has had on smokers would require lengthy trials, Judge David C. Miller said. ''Every one of you has an individual story to tell,'' Miller said in court. ``But we're dealing with 20,000, 30,000 people. I have to deal with the class, what's best for class as a whole.'' Friday's ruling was the first step toward getting money into the hands of Florida smokers, led by retired Miami Beach pediatrician Howard Engle. His class-action lawsuit against tobacco companies dates back 14 years. A jury in 2000 awarded smokers a landmark $145 billion against R. J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and three other major tobacco firms. The Florida Supreme Court tossed the verdict in 2006. Tobacco companies had put up $700 million to benefit smokers even if the appeal failed. With interest, the fund now has about $800 million. Miami Herald pdanner@MiamiHerald.com (PATRICK DANNER) Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/498784.html http://tobacco.org/news/263541.html Miami Herald dhanks@MiamiHerald.com (DOUGLAS HANKS) Thu, 17 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=48167 http://tobacco.org/news/263475.html Miami-Dade Circuit Judge David C. Miller awarded $218 million in legal fees Tuesday to Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt for years of work they put into now-defunct class action litigation against the nation's biggest cigarette markers. "I find it very reasonable," Miller said from the bench, referring to fee calculations estimating they worked for 77 hours a week on average at an hourly rate of $274. "These are reasonable and conservative hours." "In fact, in some firms that would not have been acceptable billing," he joked before a courtroom packed with at least 200 people. Tobacco attorney Robert Heim, a partner with Dechert in Philadelphia, told Miller "it would be wrong under common fund law" to award fees to the Rosenblatts, saying a guardian ad litem should be appointed to administer a fund "to protect the interests of the class." The fees would come out of a common "guaranteed fund" of about $800 million that Big Tobacco put up as collateral in 2001 to appeal the record $145 billion punitive verdict the Rosenblatt's won against cigarette makers. The verdict was later thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court along with a class certification order uniting sick smokers in a single lawsuit. Miller still must determine how to distribute the rest of the $800 million fund. . . . A line to speak in support of the Rosenblatts' fee request ran out of the room. Many people at the hearing were visibly ill or relatives of deceased smokers. floridabiz.com bshields@alm.com (Billy Shields) Wed, 16 Apr 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-02-09-0029.html http://tobacco.org/news/260315.html Norwood "Woody" Wilner, a lawyer in Jacksonville, Fla., doesn't see it that way. "I think the tide has turned against these guys," said Wilner, who has sparred with the companies in court numerous times. Wilner and other lawyers in the Sunshine State recently filed thousands of lawsuits against Henrico County-based Philip Morris USA and other major cigarette companies on behalf of sick smokers and the families of deceased smokers. The lawsuits, many of which were filed just before a Jan. 11 deadline, stem from a class-action lawsuit known as the Engle case. That case was brought on behalf of thousands of Floridians who alleged the industry deceived them about the dangers of smoking. . . . For Philip Morris and Altria Group, the cases are simply more of the same litigation the company has fought, largely successfully, for 50 years, said William Ohlemeyer, Altria Group's vice president and associate general counsel. . . . Anthony Sebok, a law professor at Yeshiva University who follows tobacco litigation, said the Florida cases are a serious challenge for the industry. "It is the first time the industry has faced large-scale individual litigation that might actually succeed," he said, but it's not enough to sink the industry because the number of lawsuits is not in the tens of thousands, as predicted by some industry critics. Richmond Times-Dispatch jblackwell@timesdispatch.com (JOHN REID BLACKWELL TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER) Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080212/OPINION/802120340/1015 http://tobacco.org/news/259694.html We sympathize with John Maloney and millions of others who have lost loved ones to cancer caused by cigarettes. But it's harder to sympathize with the idea that they should be awarded damages by juries in part because the smoker was unaware of the risks. . . . But U.S. surgeon generals' warnings about the dangers of smoking have been required on tobacco packaging for more than 40 years. Tobacco advertising has long been banned on TV and radio, and the dangers of smoking have been a continuous topic of public debate. People who smoked through those years cannot credibly claim to have been unaware of the serious risk. They made a bad choice. It's better for society to concentrate on helping people make better choices, through education and anti-tobacco advertising, such as that planned under the newly revived Florida youth smoking campaign. So long as tobacco is legal, this is the way to go. Ft. Myers News-Press Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080210/NEWS01/80209028/1075 http://tobacco.org/news/259510.html Now, Maloney is suing the nation's largest tobacco companies in state court, claiming cigarettes killed his wife and the companies concealed nicotine's addictive nature and tobacco's health risks. Joining Maloney are more than 100 Lee County residents and thousands of other Floridians, seeking what could be millions of dollars. . . . Tobacco companies have been fighting smoking-related lawsuits since the 1950s. Bill Ohlemeyer, vice president and assistant general counsel for Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris, said he estimates about 1,200 lawsuits have been filed throughout the industry. "We have a long history," he said. "We've confronted and overcome these types of cases in the past. We have a strategy to defend them." He said these won't be easy or quick lawsuits. The burden of proof is on the plaintiffs to prove their claims and the lawsuits essentially come down to proving a few facts -- whether the person's disease was definitively caused by smoking and whether the smokers weren't aware of the risks. "Just because people have cancer in their lung, doesn't mean they have lung cancer," he said. "Just because people had cancer in their lung and smoked doesn't mean smoking caused their cancer." Ft. Myers News-Press pgillespie@news-press.com (PAT GILLESPIE) Sun, 10 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.bradenton.com/local/story/328007.html http://tobacco.org/news/259459.html A Manatee County couple is suing several tobacco companies, claiming cigarettes they sold were defective and known to be dangerous. Joseph and Florence Doherty had been part of a certified class action lawsuit that was tried in 1999, but the couple has not been able to collect damages, according to the suit, filed at the Manatee County Courthouse. Bradenton Herald nalund@bradenton.com (NATALIE NEYSA ALUND) Tue, 15 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jan/17/30judge-lawsuits-could-be-taxing-on-the-system/?partner=yahoo http://tobacco.org/news/259458.html Here's a county-by-county breakdown of the lawsuits filed against the tobacco industry under "Engle": Despite a deluge of 167 tobacco-related lawsuits filed on the Treasure Coast, Chief Judge William Roby of the 19th Judicial Circuit promises "swift and efficient justice." . . . Statewide, the 10,000 or so cases filed was a much smaller number than expected, significantly smaller than the 700,000 class members originally designated as entitled to damage awards. Still, the local cases "could be pretty taxing on the system," Roby said Tuesday from a conference in Washington, D.C. Here's his county-by-county game plan: TCPalm.com Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.sptimes.com/2008/02/01/State/Who_gets_tobacco_fund.shtml http://tobacco.org/news/259069.html Three tobacco companies, Phillip Morris, Lorillard and Liggett, put $710-million in an escrow account and promised to give the money to the plaintiffs whether they won or lost on appeal. In exchange, the Rosenblatts agreed to allow the tobacco companies to appeal and not challenge the constitutionality of the law that capped the bond. . . . The money is up for grabs by potentially thousands of Floridians who can prove they became sick from smoking before Nov. 21, 1996. Miami Circuit Judge David C. Miller has set March 31 as the deadline to hear from lawyers, potential claimants and anyone else with interest in the money. He also scheduled an April 15 hearing as a starting point to determine who will get the money and to establish a mechanism for disbursing it. Besides striking down the judgment in 2006, the Supreme Court also decertified the class of plaintiffs, those 700,000 Florida smokers and their relatives, represented in the lawsuit. But it gave members of the class until Jan. 11 to file individual lawsuits St. Petersburg Times jcardenas@sptimes.com (JOSE CARDENAS, Times Staff Writer) Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:00:00 GMT http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jan/17/30judge-lawsuits-could-be-taxing-on-the-system/ http://tobacco.org/news/258361.html Here's a county-by-county breakdown of the lawsuits filed against the tobacco industry under "Engle": Despite a deluge of 167 tobacco-related lawsuits filed on the Treasure Coast, Chief Judge William Roby of the 19th Judicial Circuit promises "swift and efficient justice." TCPalm.com Thu, 17 Jan 2008 05:00:00 GMT