Florida Supreme Court justices grilled a tobacco defense attorney on how he hoped to limit the scope of smoking litigation a decade after the landmark Engle case.
A lawyer for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Gregory Katsas of Jones Day in Washington, argued smokers’ strict liability and negligence claims in Florida court were preempted by federal law established in a 2000 U.S. Supreme Court decision. He noted the state law claims rely on the idea that all cigarettes are inherently dangerous, which he said amounts to an unlawful ban on selling cigarettes.
