South Florida attorneys Richard J. Diaz, Philip Freidin and Douglas F. Eaton weathered a bumpy tobacco trial that almost resulted in no award against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA Inc. but emerged with $1 million in punitive damages.

The team represented the son of Joan Moore, who was 60 when she died in 2003. Pancreatic cancer killed her but isn’t provably linked to smoking. Moore’s laryngeal cancer diagnosis came 10 years before that, plaguing her throat and vocal cords until she needed her voice box removed.