Complex Litigation and the Tobacco Story

 

While much of America was enjoying their Christmas  back in 1953, tobacco executives were working overtime.  They were dealing with the publicity from Public Health’s discovery that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer at an alarming rate.  This was not news to them, their in-house scientists had confirmed this fact some time ago, With hundreds of millions (if not billions) on the line they couldn’t admit the truth.  Instead they orchestrated a campaign of doubt and confusion that lasted some 50 years costing millions of American's their health and needless suffering -- all while lining their pockets with huge profits.   

 

In the early 1990's whistle blowers began unraveling the conspiracy, sneaking out then-secret documents and leaking them to the press and to congress.  With the truth in the public domain  -- state governments started to take notice.  Having spent hundreds of billions on healthcare for smokers, states sought to recoup their losses -- lawsuits were filed in most states.  The trial teams needed a company that could:

 

• Handle enormous amounts of documentary evidence

• Assemble a specially tailored hardware/software package

• Provide attorneys with compelling and persuasive trial exhibits

• Present digitized documents, digitized videotaped depositions, and customized animations

• Train the attorneys to put graphics technology to best use

• Perform under pressure in a high-profile legal arena

• Operate within a strict code of confidence

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Legal-eze had quietly built a reputation throughout the legal community as the “go to” company for every aspect of the litigation cycle.   Legal-eze was hired on the spot. In what would become one of the largest cases in US history consisting of:

 

• 27 million pages of discovery,

• Hundreds if not thousands of hours of deposition testimony,

• The need to pull up any piece of evidence at a moments notice

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The states tobacco cases ended with the signing of the Master Settlement Agreement, payment of approximately $270 billion dollars, and radical changes to the way the industry does business.

 

Following the successful states cases, class actions began popping up around the United States.  In 2006 one such case, -- Howard Engle v American Tobacco et al -- was decertified by the Florida Supreme Court.  3,800 smoker’s would have to try their individual cases  in counties through out Florida. Legal-eze was called on from the very first Progeny case and racked up wins in the vast majority of the cases.

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Whether it is tobacco, aviation, mass tort, personal injury or business litigation, Legal-eze can bring its experience, skill, and proven track record of success to bear on your case too.