Attorney Find Blog

Last week, the California Supreme Court unanimously rejected a tobacco industry claim that the statute of limitations in tobacco limitations cases should start running when the plaintiff first becomes aware of the addiction. The argument wasn’t unfounded–it has roots in a 2002 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that has stopped other similar cases over the past several years.

The California Supreme Court ruling opens the door for those and similar cases to go forward. The plaintiffs’ attorneys successfully argued that a plaintiff who discovered him or herself addicted to tobacco couldn’t reasonably be expected to guess the he or she might one day develop cancer or emphysema and file suit. In fact, such claims would likely be dismissed as frivolous, since evidence of any damages would be lacking.

The California Supreme Court ruling provides a green light for stalled tobacco litigation in California.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 22nd, 2007 at 10:01 am and is filed under Current Legal Issues, Law, Personal Injury Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.