Varner v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

In this tobacco litigation proceeding, Joseph Varner claims defendant tobacco companies concealed the dangers of cigarettes, leading to a smoker's nicotine addiction and smoking-related disease.

Outcome

The jury allocated responsibility as follows:

Philip Morris USA: 25%
Virginia Varner: 75%.

The jury awarded $1.5 million.

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Case Information

Attorneys

Witnesses

Plaintiff: Varner, Joseph
Defense: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Philip Morris USA, Inc.
Verdict: $1,500,000

Judge: John Murphy
Jurisdiction: 17th Judicial Circuit of Florida
Court: Judicial Complex

Industry: Tobacco
Practice Area: Tobacco, Negligence, Products Liability

Plaintiff

Varner, Joseph

Defense

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Defense

Philip Morris USA, Inc.

Represented By:
Geraghty, William "Bill" (Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP)

Expert Witnesses

Lay Witnesses

Sessions

Attorney

Witness

Type

Description

AM Session

Openings

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	Opening Statement	Schlesinger, Scott
01:00:46	Break
01:10:21	Opening Statement	Schlesinger, Scott
02:02:09	General Case Activities
02:25:01	Break
02:30:04	Opening Statement	Geraghty, William "Bill"
03:41:59	End of Session

PM Session

Openings

8 Chapters

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

8 Chapters

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:20:33	Break
01:30:12	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
02:53:36	Witness Cross Examination	Keehfus, Jason	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:23:48	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:33:56	General Case Activities		Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:36:54	End of Session

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

5 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Direct Examination	Schlesinger, Scott	Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
00:10:17	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
00:55:07	Break
01:08:13	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
01:16:37	Witness Cross Examination	Keehfus, Jason	Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
01:28:15	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Schlesinger, Scott	Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
01:45:52	General Case Activities		Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
01:49:17	Break
01:56:20	Witness Direct Examination	Hammer, Steven	Cohen, Lori	In Person
03:08:27	Break
03:13:17	General Case Activities
03:40:50	End of Session

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

7 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

10 Chapters

PM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

11 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
00:40:51	Break
00:50:15	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
01:17:50	Witness Cross Examination	Keehfus, Jason	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
01:25:49	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Hammer, Steven	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
01:59:23	General Case Activities		Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
02:01:36	General Case Activities
02:16:30	Break
02:24:14	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Figlar, Dr. James Ph.D.	Video Recording
03:39:48	General Case Activities
03:43:00	End of Session

JUL

AM Session

Plaintiff Witness(es)

12 Chapters

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:18:15	Break
00:25:24	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Figlar, Dr. James Ph.D.	Video Recording
00:33:53	Witness Direct Examination	Hammer, Steven	Varner, Joseph Jr.	In Person
01:13:42	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Varner, Joseph Jr.	In Person
01:24:21	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Hammer, Steven	Varner, Joseph Jr.	In Person
01:27:20	General Case Activities		Varner, Joseph Jr.	In Person
01:28:41	Break
01:37:51	General Case Activities	Hammer, Steven
01:43:13	General Case Activities	Hammer, Steven
01:45:19	Witness Direct Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Roberts, Lisa	Video Recording
01:58:14	End of Session

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

7 Chapters

JUL

AM Session

Defense Witness(es)

6 Chapters

PM Session

Defense Witness(es)

10 Chapters

JUL

PM Session

Closings

9 Chapters

JUL

PM Session

Verdict

3 Chapters

JUL

Recording Disclaimer: This proceeding was recorded in full.

Varner v. R.J. Reynolds

Summary

Outcome

Sessions

Suggest a Trial

CVN Essentials

Video Library

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:50	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:46:41	Break
02:00:30	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:06:14	General Case Activities
03:17:41	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:15:39	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:24:25	General Case Activities
01:30:30	Break
01:37:38	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:10:04	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:06:53	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:06:37	General Case Activities
01:07:28	Break
01:15:11	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:19:49	General Case Activities
03:24:21	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:33:16	Break
00:38:36	Witness Direct Examination	Gdanski, Jonathan	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
01:41:23	Break
01:49:35	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Proctor, Dr. Robert , Ph.D.	In Person
03:35:14	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:02:01	General Case Activities
00:04:04	Witness Direct Examination	Schlesinger, Scott	Gup, Dr. Ronald M.D.	In Person
03:17:46	General Case Activities
03:24:28	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:11:19	Witness Direct Examination	Schlesinger, Scott	DiFranza, Dr. Joseph M.D.	In Person
01:18:25	Break
01:29:25	Witness Direct Examination	Schlesinger, Scott	DiFranza, Dr. Joseph M.D.	In Person
01:54:30	Break
01:59:37	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	DiFranza, Dr. Joseph M.D.	In Person
03:10:20	Witness Cross Examination	Keehfus, Jason	DiFranza, Dr. Joseph M.D.	In Person
03:32:14	Witness Re-Direct Examination	Schlesinger, Scott	DiFranza, Dr. Joseph M.D.	In Person
03:47:12	Break
03:47:53	General Case Activities
03:55:21	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:07:48	Break
00:09:15	Witness Direct Examination	Hammer, Steven	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
01:24:27	General Case Activities
01:25:08	Break
01:43:34	Witness Direct Examination	Hammer, Steven	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
02:05:23	Witness Cross Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Varner, Joseph Sr.	In Person
03:02:11	Break
03:04:06	General Case Activities
03:19:53	End of Session

	Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
00:00:00	General Case Activities
00:09:20	Break
00:20:53	Witness Direct Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Ticknor, Dr. Christopher	In Person
01:21:32	Break
03:02:44	Witness Direct Examination	Geraghty, William "Bill"	Ticknor, Dr. Christopher	In Person
04:08:35	End of Session

	Description	Attorney
00:00:00	Closing Statement	Geraghty, William "Bill"
00:44:52	Break
00:56:02	Closing Statement	Keehfus, Jason
01:27:29	Closing Statement	Gdanski, Jonathan
01:52:03	General Case Activities
02:06:46	General Case Activities
02:09:19	Break
02:14:29	General Case Activities
02:21:06	End of Session

			Description	Attorney	Witness	Presence
		00:00:00	Reading of the Verdict
		00:05:20	General Case Activities
		00:07:54	End of Session