Fla. Jury Awards Smoker's Husband $1.9M in Damages Against Philip Morris
A Broward County, Florida jury delivered a verdict against tobacco company Philip Morris over the death of a woman who smoked two packs of cigarettes each day from the time she was 16 years-old until she died in her late 70's.
The jury rendered a damages verdict in favor of Barbanell for $5.34 million, but apportioned liability between defendant Philip Morris (36.5%) and the late Shirley Barbanell (67.5%).
The result was a verdict of approximately $1.9 million in favor of Leon Barbanell against the tobacco company.
You can see the jury's verdict sheet against Philip Morris here:
The Miami firm of Sheldon J. Schlesinger, P.A. represented Barbanell. Steven J. Hammer served as lead trial lawyer, working with Jonathan Gdanski to try the case to a verdict.
Gdanski told FindLaw that his client "was very, very pleased with the verdict." The 92-year-old planned to "go home tonight and talk to his deceased wife and tell her that justice was finally served."
Here is the complaint in the case