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Statistics on smoking released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show Big Tobacco relentlessly pursuing almost every facet of society to get consumers to light up. The cigarette industry targets children, women, ethnic groups and minorities with marketing strategies that still seem to work. Today, one out of […]

The Sedona Conference has a slogan: “Moving the law forward in a reasoned and just way”. That slogan is exactly the way I have described this impressive organization and what do. The Sedona Conference regularly drafts and disseminates commentary articles on various areas of the law and the practice of litigation. I […]

The Florida Supreme Court soon will hear arguments in the case of Florida Wellness & Rehabilitation vs. Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Co., which pits medical providers against the automobile insurer on the issue of fees paid to injured accident victims. The high court will take up the matter Sept. […]

The party receiving discovery requests in litigation has the job of trying to understand the locations of potentially responsive data and documents; determining the identity of key custodians; and determining the most efficient and cost effective method for collection. The requesting party has as complicated job. For discovery requests to […]

Florida lawyers are once again at the forefront of litigation against Big Tobacco, as last week a class action lawsuit against the maker of American Spirit cigarettes, and its parent company, was filed in Federal Court in Miami. American Spirit cigarettes are made by Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company (SFNTC), […]

Before its civil war began in 2011, Syria had a population of 23 million people.  In the ensuing four years, 11 million Syrians have died or fled their homes, and nearly four million of Syria’s citizens fled the country altogether, many now seeking refuge in Europe.  11 million people. But […]

Should we be disturbed that the CEO of the second leading cigarette maker in America hopes for a return to Big Tobacco’s “old days?” Susan Cameron, CEO of Reynolds American – parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company – is obviously in a celebratory mood given her stewardship over Reynolds’ […]

If you ask an opposing party about the details of their document collection; the custodians interviewed; the keywords searched; or the culling approaches used; you are likely to get one response, a quickly erected brick wall. In Cooperation and Litigation: Thoughts on the American Experience (2013), Richard Marcus writes: “I […]

A cadre of corporations whose profit margins outweigh product safety have found a loophole in the litigation process: sealed settlement agreements. Such agreements are legal, as there is no law prohibiting them, and often left up to the discretion of the courts. Consumer advocates have a problem with that. The […]

Florida is sunny and a great place to live or work; but we can be a little slow to except new things. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure were amended a couple of years ago to include at least the mention of electronic discovery. Sadly, the changes did not treat ESI […]