MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE. $______ VERDICT - MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE - AUTO/PEDESTRIANCOLLISION - PLAINTIFF PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY RIGHT TURNING CONSTRUCTIONVEHICLE - CERVICAL AND THORACIC COMPRESSION FRACTURES - CERVICALHERNIATION - SURGERY - EXTENSIVE INCOME LOSS.

• Pages: 25-25

$33,500,000 MILLION VERDICT - PRODUCT LIABILITY - TOBACCO SUIT - MAN

PERISHES OF CANCER DETECTED 15 YEARS AFTER HE QUIT SMOKING - WRONGFUL

DEATH.

Palm Beach County, FL

In this tobacco litigation action, the family of a

man who perished from smoking-related cancer

sued “Big Tobacco.” The post-Engle suit was

resolved by a Florida jury. The decedent, Tom P.,

began smoking at the age of 13 until the age of

36, when he quit for good. Fifteen years later, the

decedent was diagnosed with lung cancer. He

perished in 1997 at the age of 52. The plaintiff

widow and children of the deceased filed suit in

the Circuit Court of Palm Beach County, Florida

against the defendants Philip Morris and R.J.

Reynolds. The defendants were accused of failing

to warn of the hazards associated with their

product.

After a two-week trial, the jury returned with a finding in

favor of the plaintiff and awarded $33 million, including

$21 million in compensatory damages and $12.5 mil-

lioninpunitives.

REFERENCE

Purdo vs. R.J. Reynolds, et al. Case no. 2007-CA-

024173, 04-27-16.

Attorney for plaintiff: Gary Paige of Gordon & Doner

in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. Attorney for plaintiff:

Alex Alvarez of The Alvarez Law Firm in Coral

Gables, FL. Attorney for defendant: Jeffrey Furr of

King & Spalding, LLP in Charlotte, NC. Attorney for

defendant: Bruce Tepikian of Shook Hardy Bacon in

Kansas City, MO.

MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE

$6,263,500 VERDICT - MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE - AUTO/PEDESTRIAN

COLLISION - PLAINTIFF PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY RIGHT TURNING CONSTRUCTION

VEHICLE - CERVICAL AND THORACIC COMPRESSION FRACTURES - CERVICAL

HERNIATION - SURGERY - EXTENSIVE INCOME LOSS.

New York County, NY

In this truck/pedestrian collision action, the

female plaintiff, then age 32, contended that the

right-turning construction vehicle that had a ten

foot blind spot in front due to a shovel

attachment, causing the driver to negligently

strike her as she was crossing in the crosswalk.

The plaintiff asserted that she suffered several

cervical and thoracic compression fractures as

well as a cervical herniation that will probably

require surgery in the future. The plaintiff, who

had undergone a laminectomy five weeks earlier

to treat a neurological deficit which caused a drop

foot, maintained that she did not suffer prior back

pain. The plaintiff claimed that she began to

experience back pain and weakness shortly after

the accident, and that this pain has continued to

progress, ultimately yielding a diagnosis of a disc

herniation at the same level as the prior

laminectomy. The plaintiff contended that she will

permanently suffer excruciating pain and

weakness and that the plaintiff, who works in

leasing commercial real estate, was unable to

continue working despite attempts to do so, and

that it is doubtful if she will be able to work in the

future. The defendant driver conceded that he did

not see the plaintiff before impact. The defendant

contended, however, that it was very likely that

theplaintiff,whointendedtogototheleftto

reach her office, had cut the corner and began

walking in the street after she reached the

midway point of the crosswalk. The defendant

driver claimed that he did not move the vehicle

after impact and that photographs, which showed

the vehicle farther from the intersection,

established that this was the point of impact,

supporting the defense position in this regard.

The plaintiff and an independent eyewitness

asserted that the plaintiff was in the crosswalk

when she was struck. The plaintiff and witness

also maintained that the defendant moved the

vehiclewheninstructedtodosobythepolice,

accounting for its location on the photograph.

The jury found the defendant 100% negligent and

awarded $6,263,500, including $631,750 for past lost

earnings, $4,500,000 for future lost earnings, $631,750

for past pain and suffering and $500,000 for future pain

and suffering.

REFERENCE

Eberle vs. Boeschl and Skanska, USA Civil Northeast, Inc.,

et al. Index no. 106528/11; Judge Barbara Jaffe, 02-07-

17.

Attorney for plaintiff: Joshua D. Gropper of Gropper

Law Group, PLLC in New York, NY.

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