The attorneys who battled Big Tobacco and won a $145 billion judgment three years ago now accuse the Florida judges who threw out that award of "judicial plagiarism." On May 21, the judges decertified the class of 700,000-plus smokers in Florida and threw out the landmark judgment. Stanley and Susan Rosenblatt, who represent the smokers, allege the three-member panel lifted their opinion from Big Tobacco�s own briefs.
Claiming the court violated their clients� due process rights, the Rosenblatts are calling for an en banc review by the 11-member 3rd District Court of Appeal.
"[More than] 86 percent of the panel opinion was authored by the tobacco industry, representing approximately 59 pages of the 68-page opinion through an almost verbatim replication of tobacco�s appellate briefs, without a single attribution," the Rosenblatts stated in a motion for rehearing filed July 17.
This interesting story, and the differing viewpoints it presents, is here from the ABA Journal. (via How Appealing)