S. Korea court rejects lawsuit against tobacco companies

Legal World

A Seoul court ruled Thursday that cancer patients suing South Korean tobacco firm Korea Tobacco and Ginseng Co. (KTG) do not have enough evidence to link their diseases to negligence on the part of the companies. The court conceded the link between smoking and the plaintiffs' illnesses, but said that there was insufficient evidence to show that their diseases were explicitly caused by smoking the defendant's cigarettes. In addition, the court said that there was no evidence to support assertions that the companies provided inadequate warnings about their products.

South Korea has an extremely high smoking population, at 12 million out of 47 million people, according to a 2005 report by Euromonitor International. Widespread anti-smoking campaigns have been largely ineffective. The suit dismissed Thursday was the first brought by cancer patients against tobacco companies in South Korea and was a consolidation of two separate lawsuits filed in 1999 against KTG, which was then a government-run company. Lawyers for the plaintiffs have said they will appeal the decision.

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Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

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