Opening Statements Begin in Cooper v. R.J. Reynolds

Plaintiff’s attorney Crane Johnstone contends in his opening statement that Mary Cooper’s laryngeal cancer was present before November 21, 1996. A key issue in Cooper’s Engle progeny suit against R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco defendants is whether her laryngeal cancer “manifested” prior to that date, which is required to establish her status as an Engle plaintiff.