Ferlanti v. Liggett Group

Summary

The Ferlanti case was a 10-day jury trial for a plaintiff who died at age 81 of lung cancer after suffering chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a result of cigarette smoking for over 55 years. The jury awarded the plaintiff $700,000 against Liggett Group (a part of Vector Tobacco and Vector Group).

This was the second "Engle" tobacco case to go to trial after a Broward County jury awarded nearly $8 million to the widow of a smoker who died from lung cancer in Hess v. RJ Reynolds.

Outcome

Fault: 60%- Liggett 40%- Ferlanti
Damages Before Death: 300,000
Damages After Death: 900,000
Medical Expenses: 92,000
Funeral Expenses: 3,972

Total: 1,295,972

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Ferlanti,
Defense: Liggett Group Inc.
Verdict: $1,295,972

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

Case Number: CACE03021697
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Products Liability, Tobacco, Toxic Torts, Negligence, Tort Law

Plaintiff

Ferlanti,

Represented By:
McPharlin, Todd (Kelley/Uustal)
O'Shea, Danny (Reyes, O'Shea & Coloca, P.A.)

Defense

Liggett Group Inc.

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:03	General Case Activities
00:17:43	General Case Activities
00:33:12	Opening Statement	McPharlin, Todd
00:44:00	Opening Statement	Marks, Aaron
01:00:23	Break
01:11:19	Witness Direct Examination	McPharlin, Todd	Coopersmith, Dr. Edward	In Person

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

2 Chapters

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Luther, Kelly	Coopersmith, Dr. Edward	In Person
		01:12:32	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Loraia, Dr. Salvatore	Transcript Reading

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:10	General Case Activities
00:03:26	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Kottoor, Dr. Kumar R.	Transcript Reading
00:19:04	Witness Direct Examination	Luther, Kelly	Lieber, Dr. Charles E. MD	In Person
01:32:53	Break
01:46:51	Witness Cross Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Lieber, Dr. Charles E. MD	In Person

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

2 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Openings

4 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:13	Witness Direct Examination	McPharlin, Todd	Seely, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
01:06:33	Break
01:25:38	Witness Cross Examination	Feiwus, Leonard	Seely, Dr. Richard M.D.	In Person
02:19:40	General Case Activities	O'Shea, Danny
02:29:01	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Gross, Paul	Transcript Reading
02:42:29	Break
02:51:39	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Bruff, Lawrence W.	Transcript Reading
03:20:01	General Case Activities	McPharlin, Todd

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:15	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Roggli, Dr. Victor M.D.	In Person
00:38:32	General Case Activities
00:57:32	Witness Cross Examination	Luther, Kelly	Roggli, Dr. Victor M.D.	In Person
01:20:50	Witness Re-Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Roggli, Dr. Victor M.D.	In Person
01:30:56	Break
01:49:56	General Case Activities	O'Shea, Danny
01:57:15	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Few, Mr. Benjamin F.	Transcript Reading

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:10	Witness Direct Examination		Kottoor, Dr. Kumar R.	Video Recording
01:37:42	Break
01:54:06	Witness Direct Examination		Kottoor, Dr. Kumar R.	Video Recording
02:35:24	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Harrington, Milton	Transcript Reading

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

9 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:11	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Ferlanti, Ms Carmela	In Person
00:41:55	Witness Cross Examination	Luther, Kelly	Ferlanti, Ms Carmela	In Person
00:57:43	Witness Re-Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Ferlanti, Ms Carmela	In Person
01:02:33	Break
01:26:25	Witness Direct Examination	Marks, Aaron	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:13	Witness Direct Examination	McPharlin, Todd	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
01:24:55	Break
01:41:58	Witness Cross Examination	Marks, Aaron	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:45:55	Witness Re-Direct Examination	McPharlin, Todd	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person

MAR

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

11 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:05	General Case Activities
00:03:52	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Loraia, Dr. Salvatore	Transcript Reading
00:15:30	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Bernstein, Ronald J.	Transcript Reading
00:19:37	Break
00:30:40	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Ferlanti, Mr. Louis	In Person
00:46:30	Witness Cross Examination	Marks, Aaron	Ferlanti, Mr. Louis	In Person
00:52:26	Witness Re-Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Ferlanti, Mr. Louis	In Person
00:53:18	Break
01:07:09	General Case Activities	O'Shea, Danny
01:11:56	Witness Direct Examination	O'Shea, Danny	Lebow, Mr. Bennet	Transcript Reading
01:16:23	Witness Direct Examination	Luther, Kelly	Claghorn, Dr. James L. MD	In Person

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:07	Witness Cross Examination	McPharlin, Todd	Claghorn, Dr. James L. MD	In Person
00:51:11	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Luther, Kelly	Claghorn, Dr. James L. MD	In Person
00:55:27	Witness Direct Examination	Feiwus, Leonard	DiBacco, Dr. Thomas	In Person
01:14:40	Break
01:40:06	Witness Direct Examination	Feiwus, Leonard	DiBacco, Dr. Thomas	In Person
03:01:38	Break
03:15:16	Witness Direct Examination	Feiwus, Leonard	DiBacco, Dr. Thomas	In Person

MAR

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:40	Witness Direct Examination		Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	Video Recording
00:54:56	Break
01:20:51	Witness Direct Examination		Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	Video Recording
01:25:25	Witness Direct Examination	Marks, Aaron	Zizzo, Ms. Helen	Transcript Reading
01:35:57	Witness Direct Examination	Marks, Aaron	Panettieri, Ms. Linda	Transcript Reading
01:45:15	Witness Direct Examination	Marks, Aaron	Panettieri, Mr. Michael	Transcript Reading
01:51:29	Break
02:00:26	General Case Activities

MAR

PM Session

Closings

7 Chapters

AM Session

Other

4 Chapters

MAR

AM Session

Verdict

1 Chapters

MAR

Ferlanti v. Liggett Group

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:09	General Case Activities
00:08:13	Witness Direct Examination	Marks, Aaron	Hernandez, Dr. Jose Albert	Transcript Reading
00:26:53	Closing Statement	O'Shea, Danny
01:22:02	Break
01:36:29	Closing Statement	Marks, Aaron
02:12:47	Closing Statement	O'Shea, Danny

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:01:00	Reading of the Verdict

	Description	Attorney
00:00:11	General Case Activities
00:13:54	Opening Statement	McPharlin, Todd
01:15:58	Break
01:25:34	Opening Statement	Marks, Aaron

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:15	Witness Direct Examination		Henningfield, Dr. Jack , Ph.D.	Video Recording
00:21:13	General Case Activities
00:27:24	Witness Direct Examination		Henningfield, Dr. Jack , Ph.D.	In Person
00:53:15	Break
01:04:41	Witness Direct Examination		Henningfield, Dr. Jack , Ph.D.	Video Recording
01:56:13	Break
02:08:20	Witness Direct Examination		Henningfield, Dr. Jack , Ph.D.	Video Recording
02:35:39	Break
02:42:22	General Case Activities	O'Shea, Danny

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:54	Witness Cross Examination	O'Shea, Danny	DiBacco, Dr. Thomas	In Person
01:25:16	Break
01:44:06	Witness Cross Examination	O'Shea, Danny	DiBacco, Dr. Thomas	In Person
01:56:00	Break
02:01:14	General Case Activities
02:06:36	Witness Direct Examination		Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	Video Recording

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:00:08	General Case Activities
		00:42:33	Break
		01:09:03	General Case Activities