Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. Brown

By petition for writ of prohibition, Philip Morris USA, Inc., seeks review of the trial court’s order denying petitioner’s motion for disqualification. We have jurisdiction. See, e.g., Lusskin v. State, 717 So.2d 1076, 1077 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998). By order entered on June 27, 2012, we granted the petition for writ of prohibition and directed the lower tribunal to appoint a successor judge. We now write to explain our reasoning.

This Engle1-progeny wrongful death action was brought against Philip Morris in November 2007. After nearly five years of fiercely contested litigation, the trial of this…