Michael Shepard’s insights were featured in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s article, “Busy year ahead in tobacco litigation gets off to early start”
Boston plaintiffs’ attorney Michael C. Shepard, who has worked with PHAI on other suits, said tobacco cases always come down to the companies accusing the smoker of deciding to continue to smoke despite the known health risks.
“Both the jury [in Penza] and judge [in Reppucci] are seeing through the defense tactic of blaming the smoker,” Shepard said.
As for Deakin reaffirming the “substantial contributing cause” standard, Shepard noted that it is “the only standard that makes any sense” when it comes to toxic exposure, and the verdicts in the Penza and Reppucci cases show that the standard is one that juries understand.
