Soffer v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

In this Engle Progeny Tobacco Litigation Proceeding, plaintiff Lucile Soffer ( Personal representative of the estate of Maurice "Mickey" Soffer) alleged R.J. Reynolds Tobacco of fraudulent concealment of dangers of smoking cigarettes manufactured by the company, which caused plaintiffs husband Micky Soffer to get addicted to smoking at an early age. The plaintiff also also alleged the company of manufacturing defective cigarettes which resulted in Mr. Soffers death due to Lung Cancer in 1992.

The plaintiff was represented by attorneys Rodney Smith and Mark Avera. The defendant in this case, R.J. Reynolds was represented by attorneys Geoffrey Beach and Randal Baringer.

The jury allocated 40% of the fault to R.J. Reynolds, and 60% to Mickey Soffer, and awarded $1M in compensatory damages to Mr. Soffer's widow, Lucille Soffer, and $2M each to Mr. Soffer's two children, Rochelle Soffer and Joseph Soffer, for a total compensatory damage award of $5M. However, the jury ruled in favor of the defense on the conspiracy and concealment claims, and therefore did not reach the issue of punitive damages.

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Outcome

Fault: RJ Reynolds-40%, Plaintiff- 60%
Lucille's Damages: 1,000,000
Rochelle's Damages: 2,000,000
Joseph's Damages: 2,000,000

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Soffer, Lucille
Defense: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Verdict: $5,000,000

Judge: Victor Hulslander
Jurisdiction: 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Alachua Family / Civil Justice Center

Case Number: 2007CA005192
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Tobacco, Toxic Torts, Products Liability, Negligence, Tort Law

Plaintiff

Soffer, Lucille

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:00:16	Opening Statement	Smith, Rodney
01:18:10	Break
01:31:59	Opening Statement	Baringer, Randal
03:13:09	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:05	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
01:11:05	Break
01:59:15	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:28:37	Break
02:36:59	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:56:45	End of Session

JUN

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:05	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
00:57:08	Break
01:14:07	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:02:44	Break
02:15:10	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:53:49	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:05	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
00:40:53	Break
00:48:25	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
01:40:18	Break
01:55:44	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:53:28	Break
03:10:00	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
03:44:00	End of Session

JUN

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:05	Witness Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
01:05:12	Break
01:13:27	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:02:32	Break
02:15:42	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:52:47	Break
03:00:12	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
03:44:17	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
00:53:00	Break
01:00:25	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
01:46:57	Break
01:58:40	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Smith, Rodney	Burns, Dr. David , M.D.	In Person
02:44:35	End of Session

JUN

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:10	General Case Activities
00:05:55	Witness Direct Examination	Avera, Mark	Werner, Dr. Tonia M.D.	In Person
00:55:35	Witness Cross Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Werner, Dr. Tonia M.D.	In Person
01:50:53	Break
02:04:29	Witness Cross Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Werner, Dr. Tonia M.D.	In Person
02:35:06	Break
03:09:07	Witness Cross Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Werner, Dr. Tonia M.D.	In Person
03:34:49	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Avera, Mark	Werner, Dr. Tonia M.D.	In Person
03:56:25	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Werner, Dr. Tonia M.D.	In Person
04:04:45	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination		Soffer, Mrs. Renee	Transcript Reading
00:11:32	Witness Direct Examination		Soffer, Mrs. Joy	Transcript Reading
00:32:21	Break
00:42:16	Witness Direct Examination	Avera, Mark	Soffer, Mrs. Lucille	In Person
01:20:13	Break
01:32:26	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Soffer, Mrs. Lucille	In Person
02:13:56	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Avera, Mark	Soffer, Mrs. Lucille	In Person
02:25:01	End of Session

JUN

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:14:24	Witness Direct Examination	Avera, Mark	Soffer, Ms. Rochelle	In Person
00:42:12	Witness Cross Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Soffer, Ms. Rochelle	In Person
00:53:24	Break
01:19:00	Witness Direct Examination	Avera, Mark	Soffer, Mr. Joseph	In Person
01:52:41	Witness Cross Examination	Baringer, Randal	Soffer, Mr. Joseph	In Person
02:03:36	Break
02:17:08	Witness Direct Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Myers, Dr. Wade	In Person
03:40:42	Break
03:47:39	Witness Direct Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Myers, Dr. Wade , M.D.	In Person
04:22:34	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:09	Witness Cross Examination	Avera, Mark	Myers, Dr. Wade , M.D.	In Person
00:46:03	Break
00:57:31	Witness Cross Examination	Avera, Mark	Myers, Dr. Wade , M.D.	In Person
01:29:13	Break
01:45:14	Witness Cross Examination	Avera, Mark	Myers, Dr. Wade , M.D.	In Person
01:49:43	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Beach, Geoffrey	Myers, Dr. Wade , M.D.	In Person
02:31:33	Witness Direct Examination		Ellison, Mrs. Loraine	Transcript Reading
02:40:33	Witness Direct Examination		Hodges, Mr. Clement	Transcript Reading
02:42:43	Witness Direct Examination		Ketchens, David	Transcript Reading
02:47:13	End of Session

JUN

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

JUN

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

14 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

4 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

JUN

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full except noted sections that were not recorded.

Soffer v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

AudioCaseFiles

Essentials

Training Libraries

	Description	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:07:53	Break
00:17:32	Witness Direct Examination	Cobbs Hoffman, Dr. Elizabeth Ph.D.	Video Recording
00:57:50	Break
01:14:48	Witness Direct Examination	Cobbs Hoffman, Dr. Elizabeth Ph.D.	Video Recording
01:58:08	Break
02:21:26	Witness Direct Examination	Cobbs Hoffman, Dr. Elizabeth Ph.D.	Video Recording
03:27:28	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
01:20:32	Break
01:40:52	Witness Direct Examination		Soffer, Mr. Joseph	Transcript Reading
01:41:49	Witness Direct Examination		Soffer, Ms. Rochelle	Transcript Reading
01:45:22	Witness Direct Examination		Soffer, Mrs. Lucille	Transcript Reading
00:01:26	Witness Direct Examination		Cobbs Hoffman, Dr. Elizabeth Ph.D.	Video Recording
01:55:07	General Case Activities
01:55:44	Closing Statement	Smith, Rodney
02:44:33	Break
03:01:34	Closing Statement	Smith, Rodney
03:26:10	Closing Statement	Avera, Mark
03:57:05	Break
04:21:58	Closing Statement	Baringer, Randal
05:41:39	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:04:15	General Case Activities
		00:07:41	End of Session