Brown vs. RJ Reynolds

Summary

This Engle-progeny tobacco case involves a life-long smoker who allegedly started smoking when he was 12 years old. He died of lung cancer and esophageal cancer.

The plaintiff claimed that the smoker was addicted to cigarettes that contained nicotine, and that the nicotine addiction caused his death. The defense claimed that the smoker chose to smoke and wanted to smoke, for most of his life.

The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff and found damages of $1.2M.

Outcome

$1.2 Million for Brown

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Brown, Jimmie
Defense: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Verdict: $1,200,000

Judge: Jeffrey Streitfeld
Jurisdiction: 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Judicial Complex

Case Number: 07-4646
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Products Liability, Tobacco, Tort Law, Toxic Torts

Plaintiff

Brown, Jimmie

Represented By:
Gerson, Philip (Gerson & Schwartz PA)
Zebersky, Edward (Zebersky & Payne, LLP)

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:01:12	General Case Activities
00:02:44	General Case Activities
00:18:03	Opening Statement	Gerson, Philip
01:10:20	Break
01:10:45	Opening Statement	Kaczynski, Stephen
01:48:02	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:29	General Case Activities
00:04:57	General Case Activities
00:08:36	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Benowitz, Dr. Neal , M.D.	Video Recording
01:44:56	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Benowitz, Dr. Neal , M.D.	Transcript Reading
01:53:49	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Benowitz, Dr. Neal , M.D.	Video Recording
02:47:45	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Benowitz, Dr. Neal , M.D.	Transcript Reading
02:48:08	General Case Activities
02:51:26	End of Session

MAY

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:40	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Brown , Ms. Jimmie	In Person
00:20:48	Witness Cross Examination	Upshaw , Anthony	Brown , Ms. Jimmie	In Person
00:41:14	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Ceaser, Catherine	In Person
00:55:40	Witness Cross Examination	Upshaw , Anthony	Ceaser, Catherine	In Person
01:20:20	Witness Direct Examination	Zebersky, Edward	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	Video Recording
02:23:56	Break

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:50	Witness Direct Examination	Upshaw , Anthony	Bertino , Dr. Michael , M.D.	In Person
01:30:05	Witness Cross Examination	Gerson, Philip	Bertino , Dr. Michael , M.D.	In Person
01:47:30	General Case Activities
01:50:06	Witness Cross Examination	Gerson, Philip	Bertino , Dr. Michael , M.D.	In Person
02:43:40	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Upshaw , Anthony	Bertino , Dr. Michael , M.D.	In Person
02:47:10	End of Session

MAY

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

PM Session

In Session - No Content Available

0 Chapters

MAY

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

9 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

1 Chapters

MAY

AM Session

Punitive Phase

9 Chapters

PM Session

Punitive Phase

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:58	Witness Direct Examination	Lindsay, Janna	Martinez-Fernandez, Dr. Luis Ph.D	In Person
01:04:58	Witness Cross Examination	Gerson, Philip	Martinez-Fernandez, Dr. Luis Ph.D	In Person
02:26:25	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Lindsay, Janna	Martinez-Fernandez, Dr. Luis Ph.D	In Person
02:46:20	End of Session
02:18:10	General Case Activities	Gerson, Philip
02:22:50	Witness Cross Examination	Gerson, Philip	Martinez-Fernandez, Dr. Luis Ph.D	In Person

MAY

AM Session

Closings

7 Chapters

PM Session

Punitive Verdict

1 Chapters

MAY

Brown vs. RJ Reynolds

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

AudioCaseFiles

Essentials

Training Libraries

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:01:48	General Case Activities
00:02:49	Witness Direct Examination	Gerson, Philip	Patel , Dr. Vinod	In Person
00:10:49	General Case Activities
00:11:34	Witness Direct Examination	Gerson, Philip	Patel , Dr. Vinod	In Person
01:30:46	Break
01:31:37	Witness Cross Examination	Upshaw , Anthony	Patel , Dr. Vinod	In Person
01:58:13	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Gerson, Philip	Patel , Dr. Vinod	In Person
02:08:07	General Case Activities
02:11:33	General Case Activities
02:13:13	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:02:33	Witness Cross Examination	Gerson, Philip	Tucker, Dr. Douglas M.D.	In Person
00:58:23	General Case Activities	Gerson, Philip
01:04:37	Break
01:08:32	General Case Activities
01:10:01	Closing Statement	Gerson, Philip
02:05:46	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:13	Closing Statement	Kaczynski, Stephen
00:12:07	Closing Statement	Kaczynski, Stephen
00:45:18	Closing Statement	Upshaw , Anthony
01:23:40	Break
01:24:21	Closing Statement	Gerson, Philip
01:48:41	General Case Activities
02:06:51	End of Session
00:04:10	General Case Activities	Gerson, Philip

	Description	Attorney
00:00:12	General Case Activities
00:02:08	Closing Statement	Gerson, Philip
00:32:17	Closing Statement	Kaczynski, Stephen
01:05:55	Break
01:06:16	Closing Statement	Gerson, Philip
01:21:16	General Case Activities
01:40:39	End of Session