Attorneys from the Schlesinger Law Offices are serving as plaintiffs counsel in the nation's first wrongful death case brought by a same-sex spouse against Big Tobacco to proceed to trial.

Litigators Jonathan R. Gdanski, Brittany C. Barron and Jeffrey L. Haberman are representing Bryan Rintoul in his Engle progeny suit against several tobacco companies in Broward Circuit Court. Rintoul is pursuing legal action against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Philip Morris USA Inc. and Lorillard Tobacco Co. as the personal representative of the estate of Edward Caprio, his late husband.

Opening remarks in the trial were delivered Tuesday, picking up from where a 2015 verdict favoring Caprio left off. Caprio, who contracted chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in 1996, filed suit against the defendants on charges of products liability, defective product, negligence, fraudulent concealment and conspiracy to fraudulently conceal material information in 2007.

Although the jury determined the defendants had been negligent and awarded $559,172 to Caprio, no agreement was reached concerning the concealment allegations or the plaintiff's entitlement to non-economic and punitive damages.

The outstanding questions in Caprio's case necessitated an additional jury trial. However, Caprio died Jan. 28, 2018, rendering his allegations unresolved.

Read the motion for leave and amended complaint:

A motion to substitute parties and fourth amended complaint were submitted to the court May 14, 2018. The filings made the case for Rintoul, who had married Caprio after the lawsuit commenced, to serve as the personal representative of his deceased partner's estate and inherit the case. Both the motion and amended complaint noted Caprio had taken steps to list the Engle progeny suit as an asset in his bankruptcy case prior to his death.

The fourth amended complaint reiterated the fraud by concealment and breach of warranty claims against the defendants and sought damages for Caprio's purported wrongful death.

The defendants filed respective motions denying the charges outlined in Rintoul's complaint and asked the court to deny his request to amend the suit. Broward Circuit Judge David A. Haimes subsequently issued an order granting Rintoul's request on Sept. 25, 2018.

Gdanski, Barron and Haberman were unavailable to comment on the suit. A representative with the Schlesinger Law Offices confirmed Caprio and Rintoul's case marked the first time a same-sex couple's wrongful death action against tobacco companies proceeded to trial in the U.S.

Gray Robinson shareholder Eric L. Lundt and Robert C. L. Vaughan of the Kim Vaughan Lerner law firm are part of the legal team representing the defendants. No attorneys from the defense counsel immediately returned requests for comment.

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