Introduction: Participant-Observer Scholarship at the Constructive Edge

This essay is new to cause lawyer project scholarship. It addresses a key question: Is there a story of cause lawyer heroism that can resonate with American culture? This case study provides numerous sources consistent with a heroic story of cause lawyers and Cracker political leaders at the constructive edge.

In answering this question, other questions are addressed as well. How do cause lawyers interface with culture, institutions of government, and media to effect strategic legal initiatives that obtain favorable media coverage and move public opinion? And how do these efforts ultimately lead to legislation and court rulings that advance their ideology and public policy goals? As part of their compelling story, Florida tobacco liability litigators implemented and accomplished each of these goals in one of the most successful cases in American history. This case study provides key source materials on how cause lawyers can successfully advance their ideology and public policy goals.

This descriptive and explanatory case study of Florida tobacco liability litigation from 1993 to 1997 explores the central question of whether there is a culturally resonant story of cause lawyer heroism at the constructive edge. To answer this question, this case study “pentangulates” a limited portion of the data from five distinct data sources: (1) history of tobacco in the South; (2) courts and tobacco litigation from 1954–93; (3) participant-observer narrative of the processes involved in creating Florida's strategic tobacco liability initiative from 1993–95; (4) a ten-year quantity and content competing narrative frame analysis from 1987–97 of Florida tobacco litigation print media coverage; and (5) reference to key source documents.