Big Tobacco off $145 billion hook
CNN
July 6, 2006

The Florida Supreme Court Thursday upheld a ruling tossing out a $145 billion verdict against Big Tobacco but also agreed with many of the findings criticizing the industry for selling a dangerous product.

The long-awaited decision lifted one of the biggest financial clouds over tobacco companies and sent their stocks soaring.

The Supreme Court upheld the key part of a Florida appeals court ruling three years ago that overturned the punitive damages, at the time the largest award in a U.S. product liability case…

That means those points will not have to be re-argued by future plaintiffs, said professor Richard Daynard, head of the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston.

"This is a fabulous decision," he told CNN. "It basically upholds the findings of the jury, and it provides a simplified procedure for every citizen of Florida" who has been injured by tobacco and wants to file a claim.

The ruling "provides a very simple procedure for potentially hundreds of thousands of people to file in Florida, and for potentially doing that in other states," he added.

Asked why tobacco stocks surged in response to the ruling, he said, "Because they don't understand what the case is about. It's that simple."

Nobody had expected the $145 billion award would stand, he said, and the court's conclusion on that matter was no surprise…