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Constitutional Law Keyed to Chemerinsky
Philip Morris U.S.A. v Williams
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- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
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- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
- Rule of Law: Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.
- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
The widow of Jesse Williams, a heavy cigarette smoker, brought a claim for negligence and deceit against Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro, the brand that Williams smoked. The jury found that his death was caused by smoking, and that Williams smoked in significant part because he felt it was safe to do so, and that Philip Morris knowingly and falsely led him to believe that this was a correct assumption. Therefore, the jury found them guilty of deceit, and awarded 79.5 million in punitive damages (in addition to the economic and non economic compensatory damages). The jury was given instructions as follows: “punitive damages are awarded against a defendant to punish misconduct and deter other misconduct’ and “are not intended to compensate the plaintiff or anyone else for damages caused by the defendant’s conduct”.
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- Reasoning and Analysis: Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
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