South Florida Personal Injury Blog

Fort Lauderdale plaintiff’s attorney Andrew Alitowski is taking note of the eventful day at the Broward County Courthouse. First of all, a Broward County jury began deliberating in a high-profile personal injury lawsuit against a tobacco company. Elaine Hess is suing cigarette maker Philip Morris for the wrongful death of her husband, Stuart Hess. Stuart succumbed to lung cancer in 1997 when he was only 55. He has been described as a local Cooper City locksmith who cared deeply for his family. His widow contends that despite his many efforts to cease smoking, Stuart was unable to do so due to the addictive nature of tobacco. Philip Morris claims that Stuart could have stopped smoking cigarettes at any time.

Elaine Hess and her personal injury lawyer have been seeking justice in Broward County for years. Originally, Elaine brought her claim as part of a massive tobacco class action suit. A local jury awarded the 700,000 plaintiffs the largest civil suit damages in American history. Unfortunately, the Florida Supreme Court determined in 2006 that the case should not have been filed as a class action suit, forcing each plaintiff to wait even longer. The Hess trial is the first individual suit to go to trial. At this point in time, an additional 8,000 tobacco cases are pending, creating a tremendous strain on the Florida judicial system as courts try to fit them all onto their schedules. Plaintiffs had just one year after the ruling to file their individual lawsuits after determining that the class action lawsuit against Big Tobacco was invalid.

Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyers Alitowski and Moore believe the delay is troublesome for families coping with relatives’ deaths, ongoing illnesses, and medical expenses. Each case will probably take years to go through appeals.

Fort Lauderdale personal injury lawyer Andrew Alitowski located an informative video on the dangers of smoking cigarettes. The researcher in this video details some of the many chemicals contained in cigarettes, such as formaldehyde, and demonstrates the effect of breathing in cigarette smoke. According to the video, the average smoker can expect to lose 16 years from his life compared to someone who does not smoke cigarettes:

Interestingly, the following video also shows the health effects of smoking on actual body parts. Particularly sensitive people should probably not watch the video:

In other Broward County courthouse news today, the building has flooded again. The frequency with which such disasters are hitting the troubled courthouse has become an issue in Fort Lauderdale. Early this morning, an eighth floor bathroom sprung a substantial leak. The flood closed at least one county office situated in the courthouse and delayed child support hearings in the building. Broward officials said that carpet and ceiling tiles in the area of the leak were damaged beyond repair, although the leak was far less severe than the December flood that destroyed large amounts of paperwork and flooded several floors.