How Big Tobacco Handles Lawsuits -- Attrition and Wait for Deaths
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) recently upheld, in a unanimous decision, the town of Brookline’s ordinance banning the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2000 (the Tobacco...more
Recently, NJOY LLC filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California against more than 30 foreign and domestic defendants that manufacture, market, distribute, and sell tobacco products in an...more
Recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation raises an interesting question: When federal agency action requires analyses under a holistic, multi-factor statutory standard, may the agency withhold from disclosure as...more
The recent trial in a case now settled highlights the potential expansion of public nuisance claims under California law, and in large-scale public nuisance actions more broadly. On April 24, 2023, opening arguments...more
In late November, the New Mexico attorney general announced a lawsuit in the Santa Fe County First Judicial District Court against Philip Morris USA Inc., R.J. Reynolds and other signatories to the tobacco master settlement...more
The Bullet Point is a biweekly update of recent, unique, and impactful cases in state and federal courts in the area of commercial litigation. We’re pleased to expand the Bullet Point from its previous coverage of Ohio case...more
On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a jury’s award of $10 million in punitive damages in a wrongful-death case against Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), rejecting the tobacco company’s argument that...more
E-cigarettes and vaping have steadily become more popular over the past 15 years, with many e-cigarette users unaware that the products they have been consuming are not approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug...more
The Biden Administration will ban menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars with new regulations to be issued within the next year - actions that Big Tobacco is expected to battle but which proponents say could have big health...more
Plaintiffs have appealed to the Eighth and Ninth Circuits, challenging flavored tobacco bans in Los Angeles County, California, and the City of Edina, Minnesota. The cases could have implications for similar laws in other...more
On 10, December 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in support of actions by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) on the regulation and classification of electronic nicotine delivery system...more
Coca-Cola has been called out in California for deceptively advertising is sugar-saturated sodas so it can sell more of them. A 39-page lawsuit filed in San Francisco makes 13 claims against the iconic beverage brand...more
On August 27, 2015, the Food and Drug Administration sent a warning letter to Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. Inc. and Reynolds American Inc., the company that owns Santa Fe Natural Tobacco and produces American Spirit...more
Supreme Court Advance Release Opinions - SC19232 - Izzarelli v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. - Plaintiff obtained a judgment against a tobacco company upon a claim that it put in additives and manipulated the nicotine...more
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) has just released the full award of the Tribunal in Philip Morris Asia Limited (Hong Kong) v. The Commonwealth of Australia, which was rendered in late 2015. We previously published...more
ESMA Consults on Guidelines on Disclosure of Information on Commodity Derivatives Markets or Related Spot Markets under MAR - On March 30, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") opened a public...more
The long saga of In re Tobacco Cases II recently produced yet another appellate opinion addressing California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), False Advertising Law (“FAL”), and the remedies they provide. This time, in In...more
FTC Reviews Kids’ Apps for Privacy Progress - Three years after conducting a survey on apps directed to children, the Federal Trade Commission’s Office of Technology Research and Investigation decided to check back with...more
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Holds Failure-to-Warn Claim Against Drug Manufacturer Not Preempted Because There Was No “Clear Evidence” FDA Would Not Have Approved Plaintiffs’ Suggested Warning; Also Holds...more
On April 23, 2015, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida vacated a $20,760,000 punitive damages award that had been levied against international tobacco manufacturer Philip Morris USA, Inc. by a...more
The fraud statute of repose does not bar fraud claims when the jury finds no evidence of the plaintiff’s reliance during the repose period, because it is the defendant’s last action or omission that triggers the fraud repose...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment ruling and an award of attorneys’ fees, finding that a hookah water container used for smoking tobacco was not entitled to copyright protection....more
In Suriel v. Comm’r, 141 T.C. No. 16 (Dec. 4, 2013), the Tax Court ruled that, under the specific facts in this case, the economic performance rules under IRC Section 461(h), permitting a tax deduction for certain liabilities...more
The State of California engaged in lengthy and protracted litigation with numerous tobacco manufacturers concerning their marketing activities and advertising in the State of California. In the Consolidated Tobacco Cases, the...more
Harsh Criticism for Ad Industry Over DNT - The advertising industry faced harsh criticism at a hearing held by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.). He addressed the implementation of a federal Do Not Track program and...more