Schertzer v. Philip Morris

Summary

In this tobacco case, plaintiff seeks to recover damages for smoking-related injuries.

Outcome

Verdict for the plaintiff on Engle class membership. Verdict against both defendants on fraud and conspiracy claims. Verdict for both defendants on claims for punitive damages.

Total compensatory damages: $2.5 million.

Comparative fault:

Roberta Eisen (Attributable to plaintiff): 40%
Philip Morris: 38%
R.J. Reynolds: 22%

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Schertzer, Neil
Defense: Philip Morris USA, Inc.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Verdict: $2,500,000

Judge: Reemberto Diaz
Jurisdiction: 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Dade County Courthouse

Case Number: 2008-CA-001460
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Tobacco

Plaintiff

Schertzer, Neil

Represented By:
Diaz, Richard (Diaz, Richard J, Law Offices of)

Defense

Philip Morris USA, Inc.

Represented By:
Grant, Jessica (Morrison & Foerster LLP)
Sexton, Terrence (Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP)

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Represented By:
Cone, James (King & Spalding, LLP)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:10:34	General Case Activities
00:13:12	Break
00:16:35	General Case Activities
01:17:00	Break
01:25:50	General Case Activities
01:41:40	Opening Statement	Diaz, Richard
03:36:20	General Case Activities
03:38:23	End of Session

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

3 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

15 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:16:48	General Case Activities
00:25:00	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
01:18:05	Break
01:29:07	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:49:47	General Case Activities
02:59:35	Break
03:05:00	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
03:07:35	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Johnston, James "Jim"	Transcript Reading
03:11:44	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Borgerding, Dr. Michael	Video Recording
03:15:30	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Borgerding, Dr. Michael	Transcript Reading
03:24:15	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Figlar, Dr. James Ph.D.	Transcript Reading
04:24:15	Break
04:31:20	General Case Activities
04:39:00	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Lipowicz, Dr. Peter Ph.D.	Video Recording
04:53:10	End of Session

APR

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

20 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:25	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Villa, Dr. Luis M.D.	In Person
00:47:46	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Villa, Dr. Luis M.D.	In Person
01:23:33	General Case Activities
01:35:43	Break
01:40:47	General Case Activities
01:42:29	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Villa, Dr. Luis M.D.	In Person
01:47:44	General Case Activities		Villa, Dr. Luis M.D.	In Person
01:49:03	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Villa, Dr. Luis M.D.	In Person
01:50:23	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Villa, Dr. Luis M.D.	In Person
01:51:52	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Schertzer, Neil	In Person
02:03:05	General Case Activities
02:11:06	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Schertzer, Neil	In Person
02:33:29	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Schertzer, Neil	In Person
02:56:41	Break
03:07:44	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Schertzer, Neil	In Person
04:13:28	Break
04:23:04	Witness Direct Examination		Koppelman, Charles	Video Conference
04:50:46	General Case Activities
04:51:38	End of Session

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

4 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

15 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:00:23	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Prochaska, Dr. Judith	In Person
00:33:20	General Case Activities
00:58:51	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Prochaska, Dr. Judith	In Person
01:50:11	Witness Direct Examination	Salazar , Carlos	Eisen, Richard	In Person
01:56:43	General Case Activities
02:08:56	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Eisen, Richard	In Person
02:50:03	Break
03:16:44	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Eisen, Richard	In Person
03:18:28	Witness Cross Examination	Bell, Drew	Eisen, Richard	In Person
03:22:11	Witness Direct Examination	Salazar , Carlos	Landau, Debbie	In Person
03:41:32	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Landau, Debbie	In Person
04:22:27	General Case Activities
04:25:13	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Salazar , Carlos	Landau, Debbie	In Person
04:59:13	End of Session

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:00:27	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Prochaska, Dr. Judith	In Person
00:08:30	General Case Activities
00:10:34	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Prochaska, Dr. Judith	In Person
01:10:27	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Prochaska, Dr. Judith	In Person
01:23:20	End of Session

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

2 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Closings

3 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

10 Chapters

APR

PM Session

Verdict

6 Chapters

APR

Schertzer v. Philip Morris

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:15:14	Opening Statement	Grant, Jessica
01:32:00	General Case Activities
01:36:13	Break
01:44:23	General Case Activities
01:45:07	Opening Statement	Sexton, Terrence
02:00:58	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:53:27	Break
03:01:25	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
03:22:37	General Case Activities
03:25:28	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:39:30	General Case Activities
00:57:50	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:39:00	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:16:25	General Case Activities
01:06:33	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:08:45	Break
02:21:02	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
03:12:25	Break
03:22:40	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
04:31:45	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:10:10	Break
01:23:40	General Case Activities
00:25:53	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
01:34:31	Witness Cross Examination	Sexton, Terrence	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person
02:09:53	End of Session
01:26:18	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kyriakoudes, Prof. Louis	In Person

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		01:03:44	Break
		01:12:10	General Case Activities
		01:14:04	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:11:14	Witness Direct Examination		Espinoza, Elisabeth	Transcript Reading
00:27:58	General Case Activities
00:42:45	Break
00:51:21	General Case Activities
00:56:22	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Eisen, Morris	In Person
02:42:13	General Case Activities
02:56:44	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
02:36:33	General Case Activities
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Eisen, Morris	In Person
01:23:50	Break
01:37:00	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Eisen, Morris	In Person
02:36:33	General Case Activities
02:42:13	Break
02:49:04	Witness Cross Examination	Grant, Jessica	Eisen, Morris	In Person
02:56:30	Witness Cross Examination	Cone, James	Eisen, Morris	In Person
03:03:18	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Eisen, Morris	In Person
03:33:17	General Case Activities
03:36:04	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:54:45	Break
01:00:20	General Case Activities
01:09:05	Witness Direct Examination		Heimann, Robert	Video Recording
01:14:55	General Case Activities	Diaz, Richard
01:22:43	Witness Direct Examination		Rosenkrantz, Stanley	Transcript Reading
01:36:42	Witness Direct Examination		Stanton, William	Transcript Reading
01:46:06	Witness Direct Examination		Rickets, Errol	Transcript Reading
02:00:10	General Case Activities
02:03:42	Break
02:08:33	General Case Activities
02:26:08	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
01:03:39	Closing Statement	Diaz, Richard
02:41:30	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:08:00	Closing Statement	Grant, Jessica
01:13:17	Closing Statement	Sexton, Terrence
01:36:48	Closing Statement	Grant, Jessica
01:52:05	Break
02:04:45	General Case Activities
02:08:35	Closing Statement	Cone, James
02:40:55	Closing Statement	Diaz, Richard
03:13:09	General Case Activities
03:27:35	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:00:44	Reading of the Verdict
		00:04:35	General Case Activities
		00:06:22	Break
		00:06:58	General Case Activities
		00:11:24	End of Session