IN THE CIRCUIT COURT, SIXTH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT

IN AND FOR PASCO AND PINELLAS COUNTIES, FLORIDA

 

ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2008-017 PA/PI-CIR

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RE:  Tobacco litigation management

 

            In Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So.2d 1246 (Fla. 2006), the Florida Supreme Court decertified a class action lawsuit related to cigarette smoking injuries.  The Court stated that plaintiffs can bring individual suits against tobacco defendants using certain liability findings that were made against the tobacco defendants in an earlier trial.  The task of trying all these suits now falls to the individual Circuit Courts of this state.

 

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.270 allows the court to hear issues pertaining to common questions of law or fact in related cases.  In Engle, the Florida Supreme Court referenced with approval Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(4)(A), which allows trial courts to develop imaginative solutions to the challenges posed by class action suits and individualized damages.  Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.215 vests the Chief Judge with the authority to provide for the prompt disposition of cases and the efficient administration of justice.  Accordingly,

 

IT IS ORDERED:

 

1.                  This order applies to the cases listed in Attachment A.  Any person may petition the Chief Judge to have a case from Pasco or Pinellas County added to this list for good cause.

 

2.         A “common issue judge” is created for the limited purpose of resolving pre-trial issues that present either common questions or law or common questions of fact in some or all of the cases listed in Attachment A.  The Chief Judge, or the Chief Judge’s designee, shall be the common issue judge. 

 

3.         When some or all of the parties agree to have a pre-trial issue resolved by the common issue judge, a joint motion shall be submitted, as follows:

 

a.       The joint motion shall include: (1) the case style and case number of each case involved in the joint motion; (2) a brief statement of the pre-trial issue presented; (3) whether or not the parties are requesting a hearing; (4) a designation of an attorney who will be the contact person for all the parties involved in the joint motion; (5) plaintiffs’ argument, legal authority, and desired relief; and (6) defendants’ argument, legal authority, and desired relief.  The parties involved in the joint motion shall work collaboratively to assemble and deliver the joint motion.

 

b.      The parties involved in the joint motion shall deliver a number of copies of the joint motion equal to the total number of cases involved in the joint motion to the Clerk of the Circuit Court (“Clerk”).  The Clerk will file a copy of the joint motion in each individual case file involved in the joint motion. 

c.       Immediately after filing with the Clerk, the parties shall deliver a copy of the joint motion to the Chief Judge.  Joint motions filed with the Clerk and delivered to the Chief Judge before the last day of the month will be heard on the third Friday of the following month.  The common issue judge will notify the attorney designated in the joint motion as to the time and place of the hearing.  That attorney will immediately notify all of the parties involved in the joint motion.   

 

4.         The resolution of the joint motion shall be binding only on those cases that were part of the joint motion.   

 

5.         Upon receipt, the Clerk will copy the order issued by the common issue judge and file a copy of it in each individual case file involved in the joint motion.

 

DONE AND ORDERED in Chambers at Clearwater, Pinellas County, Florida on this ______ day of March 2008. 

 

_____________________________

  Robert J. Morris, Jr., Chief Judge

 

cc:        All Judges      

            The Honorable Bernie McCabe, State Attorney

            The Honorable Bob Dillinger, Public Defender

The Honorable Jed Pittman, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Pasco County

The Honorable Ken Burke, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Pinellas County

Gay Inskeep, Trial Courts Administrator

Carol Heath, Executive Director, Pinellas County Clerk’s Office

Debbie Gay, Assistant Court Services Director Pasco County Clerk’s Office

Bar Associations, Pasco and Pinellas Counties

Law Libraries, Pasco and Pinellas Counties

 

Gregory D. Prysock, Esq.                               Keith R. Mitnik, Esq.

Brenda S. Fulmer, Esq.                                   James D. Clark, Esq.

Don Greiwe, Esq.                                           Steven C. Ruth, Esq.

Eric D. Roslansky, Esq.                                  C. Calvin Warriner, III, Esq.

David J. Sales, Esq.                                        Benjamin H. Hill, III, Esq.

Troy A. Fuhrman, Esq.                                   Kelly Anne Luther, Esq.

Stephanie E. Parker, Esq.                                John F. Yarber, Esq.

John M. Walker, Esq.                                      Hendrik Uiterwyk, Esq.         

Stephen A. Barnes, Esq.                                 Brent R. Bigger, Esq.                         

Kenneth J. Reilly, Esq.                                   Howard M. Acosta, Esq.                   

Wayne L. Thomas, Esq.                                  Frederick H.L. McClure, Esq.                       

Lewis J. Conwell, Esq.

ATTACHMENT A

 

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