Kelley/Uustal Obtains $20M in Punitive Damages in Big Tobacco Case
Fort Lauderdale, Florida (PRWEB) October 25, 2016 -- Kelley/Uustal attorneys Eric Rosen and Kimberly Wald have obtained $20 million in punitive damages on behalf of their client, Alan Konzelman, in a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (Konzelman v. R.J. Reynolds, et al., 2008-CV-019620). This award is in addition to the $8.795 million verdict obtained yesterday in Phase 1 of the trial, which included $295,000 in compensation for past medical expenses, bringing the total award to nearly $29 million. Both compensatory and punitive awards exceeded the amount Mr. Rosen requested in closings, at $5.5 million and $14 million, respectively.
The attorneys argued that R.J. Reynolds’ alleged decades-long concealment of the dangers of smoking contributed to the death of the plaintiff’s wife, Elaine Konzelman, from COPD. According to court documents, Mrs. Konzelman developed the fatal respiratory disease after heavily smoking the company’s cigarettes for more than 40 years. The jury agreed with allegations that R.J. Reynolds knowingly placed a dangerous and addictive product on the market and conspired to conceal its risks.
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Kelley/Uustal is a Fort Lauderdale personal injury law firm with more than 325 years of combined legal experience. The firm has handled a number of lawsuits against tobacco companies who willfully concealed the risks of cigarette smoking and has recovered more than half a billion dollars in compensation for victims of all types of accidents. For more information on tobacco litigation as well as other cases that the firm handles, please visit http://www.justiceforall.com.
Robert Kelley, Kelley/Uustal, http://www.justiceforall.com, +1 (954) 715-4511, [email protected]
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