Category — Law

The class action notification offers Florida smokers, ex-smokers, and survivors of smokers the ability to make application if qualified, and if qualified share in a fund that exceeds $600 million.

If you are interested, contact me by e-mail rspatz@spatzlawfirm.com

For those of you interested in filing a claim in the class action matter – please make plans to attend the meeting on Saturday (see below). Dave McDonald will be conducting the meeting . Please RSVP if you are attending since space is limited. I am attending another conference in North Miami but I plan on being there by 11:15 AM. Dave is the point man on this and will answer all your questions.

I will be having an informational meeting next Saturday May 3, 2008 from 10am to 12 noon regarding the trust fund money. Those clients of yours who want to retain my firm to process this claim may do so at that time. Our contingency retainer agreement is 33.33%. If there is no recovery there is no fee owed.
Please let me know if you or any of your clients may attend. You may contact Donna Christ of my office by email or by phone at the number below with any questions.

To clients and friends:

I have been working with McLuskey & McDonald in advising individuals of the important Tobacco litigation for some time. To keep you updated -There were hearings last week on the Tobacco Class action award. Dave McDonald monitored both hearings and there will be some more coming up in the future. Mcluskey and McDonald will be filing applications on behalf of claimants who are part of the class. I believe that there is approximately a $600,000,000.00 fund set aside for the class. Of course we need to determine whether individuals are part of the class or not before filing the applications. Unfortunately many people may be unaware of the litigation or that they may be eligible to file a claim. I have enclosed a recent letter from Dave McDonald ESQ. which is informative and you owe it to yourself to read it. The deadline for filing may be very soon. If you have questions you may call or write me or contact them directly.

A hearing was held on April 15, 2008, during which the Court made certain rulings related to the allocation and distribution of the Engle Trust Fund. I attended this hearing. Anyone who was diagnosed with a smoking related illness as defined by the Florida Supreme Court in the Engle opinion and the diagnosis occurred on or before November 21, 1996 may make a claim. Off course, the person had to have been a Florida Resident. A person may make claim weather or not they filed a suit against the tobacco industry.

A Notice outlining the next steps and a Registration Form will be mailed on April 25, 2008. If you have previously received a mailing regarding the Engle Trust Fund, you will automatically be included in the mailing on April 25, 2008. If not, my firm will have the documents needed to register for a share of those funds. At this point it is impossible to determine how much each share will be. That will be determined by the number of claims timely and properly submitted. The Judge indicated that a deadline for registering for the funds will be set, preliminarily, on June 16, 2008. As such time is of the essence if you want us to make a claim on your behalf.

From my attendance the hearings in the past few weeks, it appears that any successful claim for these funds will require a stringent requirement for proof. In the case of a family member’s untimely death due to tobacco, a death certificate and medical records documenting the illness and confirming that the illness was related to smoking will be needed. We believe that there will be situations where medical records will not be available and otherwise legitimate claims will not be able to be made due to lack of proof. The Judge has indicated that he will require more than just an affidavit of a family member of the deceased or the injured victim. Therefore, as you can see, the task will not be simple.

The Judge has indicated that he will be placing stringent requirements on the proof needed to avoid widespread fraud and to insure that the rightful victims of tobacco are compensated. He specifically said that he encourages the members of the Engle class who are eligible to receive a share of the funds to retain counsel to apply for these funds to avoid failing to met his legal requirements.

We have filed suit on behalf of dozens of our smoking victim clients already and we will work with them to file a timely and successful application for a share of the trust fund money as well. It is important to note that a recovery from the trust fund does not affect the lawsuit already filed and is not in place of any recovery in that suit. A recovery from the trust fund is in ADDITION TO the potential recovery from the tobacco industry.

We have received calls from a number of our clients inquiring if we would be willing to work with their friends or family members who, for various reasons, did not file a lawsuit by the deadline against the tobacco industry or who could not find a lawyer willing to file the suit but would like to make a claim to this trust fund money. The requirements for eligibility are essentially the same. We have agreed to handle these applications on a case by case basis but obviously anyone we assist will need to provide us with the same level of cooperation as our law suit clients in order to successfully make a claim.

If you have not done so already, please verify if you have any medical records, death certificate or any other health related records that would help us establish eligibility to the Engle Trust Fund. If you are not sure if documents you have will assist or not, I would encourage you to err on the side of caution and provide them so we can make that evaluation.

To reiterate, to make a claim for a share of the trust fund, you will need to establish that the tobacco victim was:

1. A resident of Florida on or before November 21, 1996 and was diagnosed before that date with one of the tobacco related illnesses identified by the Florida Supreme Court in the Engle opinion;
2. Medical or hospital records to support the claim including medical reference to the fact that the victim was a smoker;
3. A letter from a treating physician confirming the illness, the diagnosis date and confirming that the victim reported to be a smoker to the physician.

Any questions about this, please feel free to call or email to dmcd@mmlawmiami.com or to Donna Christ at dlchrist@mmlawmiami.com. We can also be reached at the number below.

Thanks.

Dave

David M. McDonald
The Barrister Building
8821 SW 69th Court
Miami, Florida 33156

(305) 662-6160
(305)662-6164 Fax

The Litigation Notice is available on PDF through the link below.

Florida Smokers Class Action Litigation Notice

The official notice follows …

Supplemental Notice From Miami-Dade County Circuit Court

Florida Smokers, Ex Smokers And Survivors Of Smokers May Be Eligible To Share In A Trust Fund Of Over $600 Million

I. HISTORY

The Engle Class Action was filed in 1994 and went to trial against the tobacco industry in July 1998. Howard A. Engle, M.D. et al., (plaintiffs) v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, Phillip Morris, Inc., Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp., individually and as successor to American Tobacco co., Lorillard Tobacco Co., Lorillard, inc., Liggett Group, Inc., Brooke Group Holdings, Inc., f/k/a Brooke Group, Ltd., Inc., Council for Tobacco Research U.S.A. and Tobacco Institute (Defendants), Case No. 94-08273 CA (22) Dade County Circuit Court. This Notice addresses a distinct, unprecedented monetary fund of over $700 million (the “Engle Trust Fund”) created for the class by Susan and Stanley Rosenblatt, counsel for the class. The Engle Trust Fund is approaching $800 million.

II. QUALIFIED ENGLE CLASS MEMEBERS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR A SHARE OF THE TRUST MONEYS

You may be qualified to receive a monetary distribution form the Engle Trust Fund if: 1) you (or your decedent) smoked cigarettes and 2) developed one or more of the diseases and/or medical conditions mentioned below, and 3) that disease of medical condition was first diagnosed or first manifested itself (first appeared) on or before November 21, 1996, which is the class cut-off date established by the Florida Supreme Court.

III. THE ENGLE TRUST FUND IS NOT A SETTLEMENT OF CLASS MEMBERS’ CURRENT OR FUTURE INDIVIDUAL CLAIMS

Qualified Engle class members are eligible to receive money from the Engle Trust Fund without giving up existing or future individual claims against any defendants. The Engle Trust Fund distributions are separate from your rights in any individual lawsuit for damages for personal injury or death from smoking except for the possibility of a set off depending on the payment plan adopted by the Court. Class members who choose not to bring their own lawsuits are still eligible to receive money from the Engle Trust Fund.

IV. A HEARING WILL BE HELD ON APRIL 15, 2008

A. Allocation Plans Considered

A hearing will be held before the Honorable David C. Miller in Courtroom 4-3 of the Circuit Court of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in and for Dade County, Florida at 73 West Flagler Street, Miami, FL 33130 on April 15, 2008 at 9:00 am. The Court will consider comments that have been timely submitted regarding the allocation and distribution of money from the Engle Trust Fund.

B. Attorney’s Fees Considered

The Court will also consider whether to grant Class Counsel’s application for attorney’s fees of $218,000,000 and reimbursement of costs not to exceed $5,000,000. This application is for the substantial work performed by Class Counsel over a period of approximately fifteen years (1993- 2008) in handling all aspects of the Engle class action including the two-year class action trial; multiple appeals in state and federal courts; the creation of the Trust Fund of approximately $800million and the establishment of multiple findings to be given res judicate (binding) effect in class members’ lawsuits. The entire Court file in this case, including Class Counsel’s fee application, with accompanying affidavits of experts, is available for review at the Office of the Clerk at the Dade County Courthouse.

C. Motions to Intervene will be Considered

The Court will consider timely submitted motions to intervene, written comments and/or objections of qualified class members concerning the allocation of the Engle Trust Fund and/or the attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of costs for Class Counsel. To be considered, the plans, objections, and/or Motions to Intervene must be timely filed with the Court with a copy to Judge Miller at 73 West Flagler Street, Room 414, Miami, FL 33130 and Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt at Engle Trust Fund, P.O. Box 013241, Miami, FL 33101 and postmarked on or before March 31, 2008.

Your submission must include information as to Engle class membership, including:

(1) your and/or the decedent’s name, address and date of birth;
(2) the dates/time frame you (or the decedent) lived in Florida;
(3) the date (or approximate date) you (or the decedent) was diagnosed with one or more of the diseases or medical conditions listed above or when that disease or medical condition first manifested (appeared); and
(4) the decedent’s date of death and your relationship to the decedent.
Your submission must be signed and dated by the class member, even where the comments or objections are filed by your counsel.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING AT THIS TIME TO BE ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE A SHARE OF THE ENGLE TRUST FUND.

V. YOU WILL, AS REQUIRED, RECEIVE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Court’s final determination regarding a plan of distribution of the Engle Trust Fund along with any deadlines and aother applicable information will be provided in further communications to the Class through a supplemental Notice.

You may also obtain copies of this Notice and all future Notices by calling 1-(888) 420-1666 or by writing Class Counsel:

Engle Trust Fund
P.O. Box 013241
Miami, FL 33101
DONE and ORDERED this ____ day of February, 2008. David C. Miller
Circuit Court Judge

In a late afternoon ceremony on the Capitol Courtyard on March 11, Florida Governor Charlie Crist honored Justice Barbara J. Pariente as one of the three newest members to the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame. Justice Pariente joined Dr. Pallavi Patel, Tampa pediatrician, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, 18th District Congresswoman of Florida, as the three 2007-08 inductees named by the Florida Commission on the Status of Women. Justice Pariente joins Justice Rosemary Barkett and Justice Peggy Quince who entered the Hall of Fame in 1986 and 2007 respectively.

Justice Pariente thanked Governor Crist for the honor of being selected, saying, “I have received other awards in my lifetime, but this is the Academy Award of awards.” She continued by discussing her work, leading to this moment in time, indicating that her involvement with many high profile cases has been very significant.

Celebrated for her keen attention to family issues in her work, Justice Pariente concluded by saying, “I am convinced that some of the most complex and challenging cases in which we can make a difference are those involving children and families. So, I am very proud to be recognized for my constant advocacy for children in need who end up entangled in the legal system, because I subscribe to the notion that 100 years from now it will not make a difference what our bank account was or how many honors and awards we received but that the world will be better because we made a difference in the lives of children.”

Justice Pariente, of West Palm Beach and Tallahassee, is only the second woman to serve on Florida’s Supreme Court and as its Chief Justice from 2004-2006. Throughout a legal career begun in 1975, she has shown a passionate commitment to improving the lives of women, children, and families in Florida, especially those whose disadvantages in life have brought them into courts.

Since her appointment to the Court in 1997, she has championed drug courts, Florida’s nationally praised program to rehabilitate people who commit minor crimes because of substance abuse, rather than imposing the more expensive and less successful alternative of jail. She has been a driving force behind Florida’s Unified Family Courts, a judicial approach to help ensure that each family’s legal problems are managed comprehensively by a single judge or team.

In her career, Pariente has mentored school-age children, has encouraged mentoring programs, and has worked directly to help juvenile offenders. In 2003, she turned a personal tragedy – breast cancer – into a public victory by sharing her successful treatment with Florida and national media. During this period, she never missed a court hearing, even appearing wigless in cases that were widely broadcast. Pariente graduated fifth in her law school class at George Washington University in 1973 and immediately began a successful twenty-year legal career, first as a Florida federal district court law clerk, then as one of South Florida’s pioneering women trial attorneys. She is married to Judge Fred A. Hazouri of Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal and is a mother and grandmother.