In This Issue:

-Facts

-2006 Florida Supreme Court decision

-Failure to investigate

-Eleventh Court decision

-Comment

The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re Engle Cases highlights the frustrations that many defendants face in litigating mass tort claims against plaintiff law firms which file hundreds of cases without investigating or properly pleading their cases. Siding with the defendants, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision to dismiss 750 lawsuits that had been filed with egregious defects.

- Excerpt from Facts:

On October 31 1994 a Florida state trial court certified a nationwide class action involving smokers and survivors seeking compensatory and punitive damages.

The trial court divided proceedings into three phases...

Originally Published in International Law Office on October 30, 2014.