Sommers v. Philip Morris

Summary

Plaintiff seeks damages over claims of smoking-related disease.

Outcome

Damages - $1 million

Percentage of fault:

Bert Sommers - 60%
Philip Morris - 40%

Former Lawyer's Widow Awarded $1M in Trial Against Philip Morris Over Fatal Cancer
Apr 7, 2017

Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Sommers, Steffany
Defense: Philip Morris USA, Inc.
Verdict: $1,000,000

Judge: Monica Gordo
Jurisdiction: 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Dade County Courthouse

Case Number: 13-2008-CA-001464-0000-01
Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Products Liability

Plaintiff

Sommers, Steffany

Represented By:
Diaz, Richard (Diaz, Richard J, Law Offices of)
Wolk, William (Eaton & Wolk PL)

Defense

Philip Morris USA, Inc.

Represented By:
Reilly, Kenneth (Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP)
Heise, Mark (Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:03:53	Break
00:25:44	Opening Statement	Diaz, Richard
01:46:46	Opening Statement	Reilly, Kenneth
03:03:09	End of Session

PM Session

Openings

7 Chapters

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
00:53:15	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:00:11	Break
02:18:22	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:05:05	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:24:22	General Case Activities
03:26:13	End of Session

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:04:37	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:35:23	Break
01:52:37	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
01:57:27	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Sommers, Russell	Transcript Reading
02:44:31	Witness Cross Examination	Wolk, William	Kraas, Ethel "Midge"	Transcript Reading
03:03:37	General Case Activities
03:06:45	End of Session

MAR

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

16 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

5 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Arambula, Dr. Michael M.D.	In Person
01:32:06	Witness Cross Examination	Diaz, Richard	Arambula, Dr. Michael M.D.	In Person
02:57:54	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Arambula, Dr. Michael M.D.	In Person
03:02:55	General Case Activities
03:43:12	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

7 Chapters

APR

AM Session

Closings

7 Chapters

PM Session

Closings

5 Chapters

PM Session

Other

2 Chapters

PM Session

Verdict

4 Chapters

APR

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Sommers v. Philip Morris

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:04:02	Opening Statement	Reilly, Kenneth
00:21:52	Break
00:23:20	General Case Activities
01:16:05	Break
02:52:28	General Case Activities
03:02:04	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:21:38	Break
01:04:32	General Case Activities	Reilly, Kenneth
01:08:54	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:17:42	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:18	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:26:04	General Case Activities
02:58:36	General Case Activities
02:59:45	Break
03:03:23	General Case Activities
04:07:15	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:01:53	Break
00:22:50	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:32:53	Break
02:50:09	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:54:22	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:11:00	Break
00:23:51	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Samole, Dr. Yale M.D.	In Person
01:00:21	Break
01:15:09	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Samole, Dr. Yale M.D.	In Person
02:38:00	Break
02:49:38	General Case Activities
02:50:52	Witness Cross Examination	Heise, Mark	Samole, Dr. Yale M.D.	In Person
02:52:44	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Samole, Dr. Yale M.D.	In Person
02:55:16	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Sommers, Susan	In Person
03:38:18	Witness Cross Examination	Heise, Mark	Sommers, Susan	In Person
03:48:26	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:03:47	Witness Cross Examination	Heise, Mark	Sommers, Susan	In Person
00:13:37	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Sommers, Susan	In Person
00:15:34	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Kaplan, Laurel	Transcript Reading
01:14:23	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
02:33:43	General Case Activities
02:38:17	Break
02:49:00	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
03:15:38	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
03:54:45	General Case Activities
03:55:51	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:10:44	Break
00:18:07	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
01:53:33	General Case Activities
01:55:02	Break
02:07:00	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
02:14:14	Break
02:22:37	Witness Cross Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
02:44:21	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Sommers, Steffany	In Person
03:10:14	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Cummings, Dr. Kenneth "Michael" Ph.D.	In Person
04:11:58	General Case Activities
04:12:41	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:06:55	Break
00:08:25	Witness Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Feldman, Dr. Theodore	In Person
01:33:13	Witness Cross Examination	Heise, Mark	Feldman, Dr. Theodore	In Person
02:21:12	Break
02:40:25	General Case Activities
02:47:12	Witness Cross Examination	Heise, Mark	Feldman, Dr. Theodore	In Person
02:51:14	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Diaz, Richard	Feldman, Dr. Theodore	In Person
03:22:42	Witness Re-Cross Examination	Heise, Mark	Feldman, Dr. Theodore	In Person
03:30:33	General Case Activities
03:31:29	General Case Activities
03:52:39	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:04:55	General Case Activities	Diaz, Richard
00:05:47	Witness Direct Examination	Heise, Mark	Phillips, Dr. Paul M.D.	In Person
00:39:18	Witness Cross Examination	Diaz, Richard	Phillips, Dr. Paul M.D.	In Person
01:09:44	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Heise, Mark	Phillips, Dr. Paul M.D.	In Person
01:14:10	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
01:58:43	General Case Activities
01:59:36	Break
02:29:57	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
03:12:20	Witness Cross Examination	Diaz, Richard	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
03:36:21	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Bishopric, Dr. Nanette MD, FACC, FACA	In Person
03:44:19	Witness Direct Examination	Reilly, Kenneth	Elias, Dr. Richard M.D.	Video Recording
04:11:32	General Case Activities
04:13:00	Break
04:17:37	General Case Activities
06:11:52	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:15:16	General Case Activities
00:32:28	Closing Statement	Diaz, Richard
02:02:56	General Case Activities
02:03:44	Break
02:15:54	Closing Statement	Reilly, Kenneth
03:18:48	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	General Case Activities
		00:07:15	Reading of the Verdict
		00:12:50	General Case Activities
		00:15:42	End of Session