March 1, 2006,
JMF represented Imperial Tobacco Polska S.A. (“Imperial Polska”), part of the Imperial Tobacco Group PLC family of companies, in two cigarette smoking and health cases tried to judgment in the Regional Court in Poznan, Poland.
In Czarnecki v. Imperial Tobacco Polska S.A., the claimant (plaintiff) Zbigniew Czarnecki sought to recover damages for his laryngeal cancer claiming that Imperial Polska and its state-owned predecessor were negligent in manufacturing and selling cigarettes to him. In March 2006, after a trial that took place over four years, the trial court issued a judgment and decision dismissing the claim and rejecting each of the claimant's arguments and, in addition, accepting Imperial Polska’s statute of limitations defense. This judgment was affirmed on appeal in November 2006.
In Bierówka v. Imperial Tobacco Polska S.A., the claimant Helena Bierówka sought to recover damages for her asthma and other health complaints as well as for her alleged addiction to cigarette smoking. In a judgment and decision issued in November 2006, the trial court dismissed these claims as “unjustified” and “unproved”.
Working closely with Imperial Polska’s legal teams in Warsaw and in London, JMF developed the successful legal strategies and led the work with medical experts in these cases.
