11th Circuit Affirms Trial Court Rulings Upholding Jury’s $41.1M Engle Verdict

Mealey's (March 27, 2020, 12:38 PM EDT) -- ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 24 affirmed a trial court’s rulings denying motions for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and for new trial or remittitur after a jury awarded $41.1 million in compensatory and punitive damages to a smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), holding that the awards were not excessive or unconstitutional and that the smoker’s lifelong exposure to the tobacco industry’s “misinformation campaign” was sufficient evidence of detrimental reliance to claim fraudulent concealment (Kenneth Kerrivan v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, et al., No. 18-13045, 11th Cir., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 9132)....