BURKHART v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO CO.

No. 14-14708.

884 F.3d 1068 (2018)

Pauline BURKHART, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY, individually and as successor by merger to the Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corporation and the American Tobacco Company, Philip Morris USA, Inc., Defendants-Appellants.

United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit.

March 7, 2018.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Elizabeth Joan Cabraser , Jordan S. Elias , Richard M. Heimann , Sarah Robin London , Robert J. Nelson , Martin D. Quinones , Todd A. Walburg , Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, San Francisco, CA, Frederick C. Baker , Rebecca M. Deupree , Robert Turner Haefele , James William Ledlie , Lance V. Oliver , Vincent I. Parrett , Joseph F. Rice , Lisa M. Saltzburg , Elizabeth S. Smith , Motley Rice, LLC, Mount Pleasant, SC, Kathryn E. Barnett , Law Office of Morgan & Morgan, Nashville, TN, Kenneth S. Byrd , Andrew R. Kaufman , John T. Spragens , Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Nashville, TN, Charles Easa Farah, Jr. , Farah & Farah, PA, Jacksonville, FL, Nathan David Finch , Motley Rice, LLC, Washington, DC, Stephanie J. Hartley , Richard Lantinberg , Janna Blasingame McNicholas , Norwood Wilner , The Wilner Firm, PA, Jacksonville, FL, Mathew Jasinski , Michael J. Pendell , Motley Rice, LLC, Hartford, CT, Donald Alan Migliori , Motley Rice, LLC, Providence, RI, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Stephanie Ethel Parker , John F. Yarber , Jones Day, Atlanta, GA, Keri Arnold , Ingo Sprie, Jr. , Arnold & Porter, LLP, New York, NY, Judith Bernstein-Gaeta , Khalil Gharbieh , Brittany E. Hamelers , David E. Kouba , M. Sean Laane , Maura McGonigle , Geoffrey Michael , Mallori Browne Openchowski , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP, Washington, DC, Dana G. Bradford, II , Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLP, Jacksonville, FL, Andrew S. Brenner , Mark Jurgen Heise , Patricia Melville , Stephen N. Zack , Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP, Miami, FL, Joshua Reuben Brown , Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Orlando, FL, Karen C. Dyer , Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP, Orlando, FL, Nathan D. Foster , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, Denver, CO, Kathleen A. Gallagher , Beck Redden & Secrest, Houston, TX, Robert D. Homolka , Bruce R. Tepikian , Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Kansas City, MO, Frank P. Kelly, III , Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP, San Francisco, CA, James B. Murphy, Jr. , Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Tampa, FL, Jared Ryan Sherr , Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Miami, FL, for Defendant-Appellant PHILIP MORRIS USA, INC.

Stephanie Ethel Parker , Emily C. Baker , Jason Todd Burnette , David M. Monde , Jordon Patterson , Jesika Wehunt , John F. Yarber , Jones Day, Atlanta, GA, William R. Stein , Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP, Washington, DC, Mark A. Belasic , Timothy James Fiorta , Jones Day, Cleveland, OH, Lorene Jon Bielby , John K. Londot , Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Tallahassee, FL, Elizabeth Blackwell , Susan L. Werstak , Thompson Coburn, LLP, Saint Louis, MO, Dana G. Bradford, II , Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLP, Jacksonville, FL, Andrew S. Brenner , Mark Jurgen Heise , Stephen N. Zack , Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP, Miami, FL, Joshua Reuben Brown , Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Orlando, FL, Patrick P. Coll , Smith Hulsey & Busey, Jacksonville, FL, Wilfred P. Coronato , Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, Jersey City, NJ, Rafael Cruz-Alvarez , Golden & Grimes, LLP, Miami, FL, John A. DeVault, III , Bedell Dittmar DeVault Pillans & Coxe, PA, Jacksonville, FL, Karen C. Dyer , Boies Schiller & Flexner, LLP, Orlando, FL, Jeff H. Galloway , Diane Elizabeth Lifton , Theodore V.H. Mayer , Carole Weitz Nimaroff , Robb W. Patryk , Daniel H. Weiner , Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP, New York, NY, Khalil Gharbieh , Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, LLP, Washington, DC, Jose Isasi, II , Jones Day, Chicago, IL, John Michael Lyons , Nicolas Swerdloff, I , Aviva L. Wernick , Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP, Miami, FL, Charles Richard Allan Morse , Jones Day, New York, NY, James B. Murphy, Jr. , Terri Lynn Parker , Shook Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Tampa, FL, Robert B. Parrish , Joseph W. Prichard, Jr. , David C. Reeves , Jeffrey Alan Yarbrough , Moseley Prichard Parrish Knight & Jones, Jacksonville, FL, Carl L. Rowley , Thompson Coburn, LLP, Saint Louis, MO, Gay Tedder , Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP, Kansas City, MO, Jack Williams , Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP, Atlanta, GA, for Defendant-Appellant R.J. REYNOLDS TOBACCO COMPANY.

Before TJOFLAT and HULL, Circuit Judges, and BARTLE, District Judge.


This appeal, brought by three tobacco companies ("Appellants"), challenges on multiple grounds the judgment entered against them and in favor of Pauline Burkhart for compensatory and punitive damages. The judgment was awarded after a bifurcated, ten-day trial in which the jury found in Burkhart's favor on her claims of negligence...

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