TALLAHASSEE, Fla., May 13 (UPI) -- The Florida Supreme Court will hear an appeal of the biggest-ever civil court judgment involving $145 billion to ailing smokers from tobacco companies.
The smokers' class action suit was the first of its kind to go to trial in the country, but was overturned on appeal last year.
Lawyers Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt argued the state high court should have jurisdiction of their case, the Miami Herald reported. They argued the due-process rights of an estimated 700,000 smokers were violated when the appellate court unanimously threw out the 2000 trial judgment last year.
That court, in West Miami-Dade County, concluded the class of smokers should never have been certified for the Miami trial and they must file individual liability claims against the industry -- a process legal experts said would take an eternity.
Only six of the seven Florida high-court justices will hear the case because Raoul Cantero recused himself. His former law firm, Adorno & Yoss, was involved in appellate work for one of the tobacco defendants, Brown & Williamson.
