“Whenever I see corporate negligence in the mass tort arena, I can’t get out of bed fast enough.” — J.B. Harris 84L their families for smoking-related illnesses or death caused by nicotine addiction.” More than 8,000 plaintiffs filed individual claims against the tobacco companies in both state and federal courts in Florida. Harris filed 159. “I have no qualms about suing large corporations for selling dangerous and defective products to an unsuspecting public,” says Harris, who has practiced law for 28 years. “Whenever I see corporate negligence in the mass tort arena — where companies subvert safety for profits and injure innocent customers who are precluded from making informed decisions — I can’t get out of bed fast enough.” Harris is now considered one of the leaders in pursuing
injury and death claims against the cigarette manufacturers, cases that are extremely labor-intensive and can take years to go to trial. It was for in such case, Emmon Smith v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., that Harris set up the war room in the bed-and-breakfast and took or defended more than 50 depositions over a four-year period. His team questioned more than 600 prospective jurors, who were difficult to find in conservative, tobaccofriendly Jackson County, Fla., and hired experts in the fields of addiction and cigarette advertising and history and design. He suffered through two judges, five continuances and one mistrial. The courthouse clerk said this was the largest case they had ever handled. In the end, Harris’ tenacity paid off: His team obtained a $27 million verdict against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco. It was the largest single verdict in Jackson County history. “We never gave up,” says Harris.
Blocking the EPA
Forks, orthodontic braces, hip-joint replacements — all made with radioactive metals. That’s what could have happened in the late 1990s as a result of the Department of Energy’s agreement with BNFL Inc. to recycle as much as 110,000 tons of contaminated metal taken from the Oak Ridge, Tenn., nuclear weapons facility. This did not sit well with Guttman, a Washington, D.C.based attorney who filed suit against Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson to block the recycling and distribution of these metals. “I learned about the National Environmental Policy Act in Professor Arthur’s course on environmental law and knew that this was a federal action, which could have potential impact on health or the environment,” he says. “This would mandate an environmental impact “We look at the case from statement.” In pursuall sides. We look at good ing the case, facts and bad facts.” Guttman searched through — Reuben Guttman 85L copious documents for an environmental impact statement or a decision against assembling one. Neither could be found. “I filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the secretary of energy,” he says. “When I sought discovery in the case, the Department of Justice, representing the Department of Energy, argued that this was an action under the Administrative Procedures Act and therefore, while I was entitled to a record, I was not entitled to discovery.” Guttman argued successfully that because the government had failed to develop a record, he was entitled to the
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emory lawyer