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Tobacco class action goes up in smoke; individual and government cases proceed.

Article Excerpt
A Florida class action against tobacco manufacturers took a blow in May, but an individual suit in Arkansas was rewarded at trial, and the federal government had a big win, too.

Despite the setback in Florida, where a federal appeals court questioned the viability of class actions against the industry, the success of other tobacco litigation shows that plaintiffs still have options. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upheld the federal government's use of racketeering laws against tobacco manufacturers, and individual suits are still succeeding.

Florida class rejected

There's trouble for tobacco litigation in the Sunshine State. Florida's Third District Court of Appeals overturned a $145 billion punitive damages award in the class action, which seeks to hold cigarette manufacturers accountable for nicotine addiction and smoking-related health problems of all Florida smokers. (Engle v. Liggett Group Inc., No. 3DOO-3400, 2003 WL 21180319 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. May 21, 2003).) The court ordered the suit decertified, essentially forcing each of the estimated 700,000 plaintiffs to sue the tobacco industry individually if they wish to pursue their claims. The plaintiffs filed an appeal in July.

Engle resonates nationally. Richard Daynard, a law professor at Northeastern University in Boston and president of the pro-plaintiff Tobacco Products Liability Project (TPLP), said the decision makes it harder to bring similar suits elsewhere, "because one of the relatively few courts that were willing to consider letting them go forward [is] pulling back."

The court raised several issues related to the size...

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