Hess v. RJ Reynolds

Summary

Stuart Hess's widow Elaine Hess sued cigarette maker Philip Morris, claiming that her husband could not stop smoking because he was addicted to nicotine. Mr. Hess died of lung cancer at age 55, in 1997.

Hess v. RJR Reynolds was the first of the "Engle progeny" tobacco liability suits to go to trial. The jury awarded $8M to the smoker's widow and her son.

Outcome

Phase 1 - Jury ruled plaintiff Hess was addicted to nicotine at the time of his death.

Phase 2 - 2MM

Phase 3 - 5MM

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Hess, Elaine
Defense: Philip Morris Tobacco Co
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Verdict: $7,000,000

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

Case Number: CACE07011513
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Products Liability, Tobacco, Tort Law, Toxic Torts

Plaintiff

Hess, Elaine

Defense

Philip Morris Tobacco Co

Represented By:
Reilly, Kenneth (Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP)

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Represented By:
Brenner, Andrew (Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

3 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:14:00	Opening Statement	Trop, Adam
01:32:40	Opening Statement	Reilly, Kenneth

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Glassman, Dr. Alexander	In Person
01:16:50	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Glassman, Dr. Alexander	In Person
01:29:55	Break
01:50:58	Witness Direct Examination		Dorfman, Howard	Video Recording
02:17:45	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Hess, David	In Person

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Hess, David	In Person
00:18:23	Break
00:29:45	Witness Cross Examination	Brenner, Andrew	Hess, David	In Person
00:47:43	End of Session

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:50	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
00:32:20	Break
00:37:22	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
00:50:41	Break
00:52:43	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
01:39:51	Break

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:19	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
00:38:05	Break
00:42:05	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
01:38:17	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:51:16	Break
02:59:22	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
03:14:33	End of Session

FEB

AM Session

Not in Session

0 Chapters

PM Session

Not in Session

0 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:19	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
00:25:52	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
00:55:12	General Case Activities
00:57:22	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
01:09:38	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
01:16:12	Break
01:40:07	Witness Direct Examination	Brenner, Andrew	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
03:02:35	General Case Activities
03:05:04	Witness Direct Examination	Brenner, Andrew	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
03:31:19	End of Session

FEB

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

9 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

9 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
00:46:40	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Brenner, Andrew	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
00:57:50	Break
01:10:10	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Jones, Dr. Kim MD	In Person
01:45:30	Witness Cross Examination	Trop, Adam	Jones, Dr. Kim MD	In Person
01:57:00	General Case Activities
02:00:30	Witness Cross Examination	Trop, Adam	Jones, Dr. Kim MD	In Person
02:04:30	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Jones, Dr. Kim MD	In Person
02:07:50	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person

FEB

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

12 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Trop, Adam	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
00:30:40	General Case Activities
00:32:19	Witness Cross Examination	Trop, Adam	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
00:36:50	General Case Activities
00:46:14	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
00:55:21	General Case Activities
00:56:45	Witness Direct Examination		Frankenberg, Robert	Video Recording
01:14:36	Witness Direct Examination		Gentille, Allison	Video Recording
01:35:20	Break
01:54:56	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person
02:19:47	General Case Activities
02:21:04	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

9 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person
00:11:10	General Case Activities
00:12:33	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person
00:30:00	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person
00:59:22	General Case Activities
01:00:39	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person
01:26:10	Break
01:46:41	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person
02:50:18	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Nace, Dr. Edgar MD	In Person

FEB

AM Session

Closings

10 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Punitive Phase

8 Chapters

PM Session

Punitive Phase

13 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Punitive Phase

6 Chapters

PM Session

Punitive Phase

13 Chapters

FEB

AM Session

Not in Session

0 Chapters

PM Session

Punitive Verdict

1 Chapters

FEB

	Description	Attorney
00:00:14	General Case Activities
00:00:40	General Case Activities
00:03:24	Closing Statement	Alvarez, Alex
00:41:24	Closing Statement	Paige, Gary
01:11:12	Break
01:19:53	Closing Statement	Reilly, Kenneth
02:21:21	Closing Statement	Alvarez, Alex
02:28:06	Break
02:37:15	General Case Activities
03:09:21	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:03	General Case Activities
00:01:13	Closing Statement	Alvarez, Alex
00:22:13	Closing Statement	Paige, Gary
00:59:28	Closing Statement	Reilly, Kenneth
01:53:34	Closing Statement	Paige, Gary
02:02:08	Break
02:03:23	General Case Activities
02:16:25	Break
02:21:08	General Case Activities
02:55:38	Break
03:09:17	General Case Activities
04:40:33	General Case Activities
05:09:31	End of Session

Hess v. RJ Reynolds

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:05	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:01:05	Break
01:44:50	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:05:18	General Case Activities
02:07:45	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:30:07	Break
02:41:36	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:29:17	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:30:46	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:36	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
00:20:38	Break
00:32:47	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
00:35:01	General Case Activities
00:36:35	General Case Activities
00:39:24	Witness Direct Examination		Christenson, Don	Video Recording
00:50:20	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Christenson, Don	Video Recording
00:54:22	Witness Re-Direct Examination		Christenson, Don	Video Recording
01:01:38	Break
01:22:12	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Glassman, Dr. Alexander	In Person
02:40:00	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:25	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Ross, Dr. Melvin MD	In Person
00:20:25	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Ross, Dr. Melvin MD	In Person
01:01:00	General Case Activities
01:02:30	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Ross, Dr. Melvin MD	In Person
01:17:39	Break
01:36:37	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Ross, Dr. Melvin MD	In Person
02:05:30	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Ross, Dr. Melvin MD	In Person

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:10	Witness Direct Examination	Brenner, Andrew	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
01:13:23	Break
01:34:17	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
01:43:06	General Case Activities
01:45:41	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
02:11:10	General Case Activities
02:13:51	Witness Cross Examination	Paige, Gary	Schaller, Prof. Michael	In Person
02:34:25	General Case Activities
02:38:02	Break

	Description	Attorney
00:00:15	General Case Activities
00:24:20	Break
00:30:58	General Case Activities
00:55:25	Break
01:09:40	General Case Activities
01:20:55	General Case Activities
01:26:55	Opening Statement	Trop, Adam
01:54:06	Opening Statement	Reilly, Kenneth

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:15	General Case Activities
00:03:30	Witness Direct Examination	Trop, Adam	Hess, David	In Person
00:17:23	Witness Direct Examination	Alvarez, Alex	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
00:46:25	General Case Activities
00:49:20	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
00:56:00	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
00:56:45	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Alvarez, Alex	Hess, Mrs. Elaine	In Person
00:58:10	General Case Activities
01:02:45	Break
01:18:30	General Case Activities
01:31:29	Break
01:48:38	General Case Activities
02:33:00	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:15	General Case Activities
		00:21:03	Break
		00:30:18	General Case Activities
		00:36:50	Break
		00:42:53	General Case Activities
		02:17:15	End of Session