Problem/Objective: The tobacco control community often needs to defend smoke-free laws and policies and make sense of court orders and settlement agreements, which can be inconsistent at times. In addition, the tobacco control community uses litigation as a tool to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke and to try to get compensation for injuries caused by the tobacco industry.

Methods: This presentation will summarize recent court decisions related to the defense of smoke-free laws, secondhand smoke litigation, and cases involving the tobacco industry. In addition, apparent trends and lessons that might be drawn from these cases will be discussed.

Results: Attendees will be able to describe recent litigation affecting the tobacco control community and will be able to communicate in what ways this litigation may affect their work.

Conclusions: While cases dealing with the defense of smoke-free laws vary from one jurisdiction to the next, the courts are consistently upholding smoke-free laws. Although litigation to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke and to seek compensation from the tobacco industry has had mixed results, it can be a worthwhile tool.