Susan Saladoff new documentary feature film“Hot Coffee” is a passionate work detailing the famous McDonald’s case of Stella Liebeck. Stella Liebeck sued McDonald’s after she was severely burned by a cup of the fast food chain’s hot coffee. As Public Citizen points out “Liebeck, who was 79 at the time of the accident, became the butt of jokes as her case became a cause célèbre as exhibit #1 of a justice system overrun with frivolous lawsuits.”
Misguided Scrutiny
Incredibly, McDonald’s was characterized as the victim in this case. How bad was the scrutiny and pressure Stella endured for bringing her suit against McDonald’s? Saladof’s introduction best describes the scrutiny and questions that were eventually answered:
“Seinfeld mocked it. Letterman ranked it in his top ten list. And more than fifteen years later, its infamy continues. Everyone knows the McDonald’s coffee case. It has been routinely cited as an example of how citizens have taken advantage of America’s legal system, but is that a fair rendition of the facts? Hot Coffee reveals what really happened to Stella Liebeck, the Albuquerque woman who spilled coffee on herself and sued McDonald’s, while exploring how and why the case garnered so much media attention, who funded the effort and to what end. After seeing this documentary film, you will decide who really profited from spilling hot coffee.”
What Would You Do?
What do you think of this case? How would you handle this situation as either the victim or the plaintiff’s attorney? Finally how important is this case in the history of plaintiff cases in the United States?
Excerpts from“The male warrior/trial lawyer: male trial lawyers are fighting issues of “hidden spirituality” and “false masculinity” that carry over into their professional relationships with women”
These are changing times for men, especially in our profession. We men trial lawyers need to be aware of fundamental, profound and rapid changes in our roles as male warriors/trial lawyers. This is a subject that has interested me for some time. In the 1990s I formed a men’s group and explored the whole emerging phenomena of the men’s movement. Now it is time to take another look at that whole issue, especially from the perspective of plaintiff ’s trial lawyers.
I recently read a thought provoking book called The Hidden Spirituality of Men, by Matthew Fox. Matthew Fox is a well-known, former Roman Catholic priest who has written and lectured about social and spiritual issues for many years. In his preface, Fox points out some of the observations that have became well-known in the men’s movement:
Men have a lower life expectancy than women
Suicide rates among men are much higher than women (as much as three times more, although women attempt and fail at suicide more often than men)
Men may not deal with stress as well as many women do because men often resist getting counseling or other help
Hidden Spirituality
Fox suggests that there are many reasons why men’s spirituality is “hidden,” including some that I have observed in my many years of lecturing to and consulting with trial lawyers, primarily men. Some of these include:
Western Culture: because Western culture is still a dualist patriarchy that values thinking over feeling, material wealth over spiritual, scientific fact over intuitive knowledge, men over women, and heterosexuals over homosexuals.
Open Expression: because men are rarely rewarded, and often mocked, for openly expressing their deepest feelings of joy, sensitivity, and pain
Tears: because men, who are “not supposed to cry,” learn to hide their grief as well as their joy
Work: because men sometimes work so hard that they do not have time or space for exploring their hearts
Hiding Feelings: because, in an attempt to respect the women’s movement, some men feel compelled to silence themselves and hide any “unacceptable” maleness
Fathers and Sons: because communication between boys and fathers is often cold or nonexistent in our culture, and too many elders “retire” to the golf course rather than mentor younger generations
Dealing with Anger: because men don’t know how – and are not trained – to deal with their anger and outrage in healthy ways
Tough Guys Hurt Too
There are, of course, many other factors involved. However, men who decide to enter the world of litigation have to be “tough men.” In our world, the spiritual side is perhaps even more hidden than in the general male population. It’s therefore understandable that male trial lawyers frequently exhibit symptoms of out-of-balance masculinity – from taking tough guy attitudes to early bouts of alcoholism and substance abuse, and simply enduring the chronic stress that leads to physical and psychological debilitation, which in turn may lead to an early grave. Guys, it didn’t really work for us in the past, and it’s certainly not working now.
Excerpts from my August Plaintiff magazine article: “The Vanishing Civil Jury Trial: Could Jury Consultants and Mock Trials Be Used More Creatively to Solve Cases?”
The American Board of Trial Advocates magazine Voir Dire, recently reprinted a very interesting and extensive study about the fact that we are trying fewer jury trials in our civil cases. [...]
The following is an impassioned update from Tyson Slocum, Director of the Energy and Climate Program of Public Citizen, about their efforts to pursue justice in the British Petroleum Gulf oil spill disaster. Many families have lost their livelihoods, people have been seriously injured, and some killed during the oil rig explosion.
Public Citizen’s Fight Against [...]
Truck accidents including big rigs, semis and other large trucks are often serious with repercussions for both the victims and their families. People’s lives are often permanently impacted due to catastrophic injuries of paralysis, spinal cord injury, or brain injury.
In many cases, the only way to achieve any form of justice is to hold the [...]
The following speech, a heartfelt and inspirational address, is from Steven N. Zack the incoming president of the American Bar Association. Mr. Zack becomes the first Hispanic-American president of the American Bar Association. In his introduction, Mr. Zack details his harrowing experience in 1961 as a 14 year old boy fleeing Cuba with his family. [...]
Much like the correlation between vehicle accidents and roadway conditions in California, bicycle accidents in the Bay Area are often the result of poor road conditions, traffic congestion, lack of bicycle lanes, bicyclist or driver error, and negligence. Although safety awareness, bike helmet laws, and technology continues to improve, bicycle accidents leading to injury and [...]
Construction work is fraught with dangers that injure, maim, and kill workers every year. “Accidents at construction sites are, unfortunately, common occurrence across the U.S. The Department of Labor estimates that more than 150,000 construction-related injury accidents happen every year.”
The following U.S. Department of Labor construction accident statistics continue to illustrate the dangers [...]
A World Without Lawyers – A funny movie is a click away
What would the world be like without lawyers? It sounds like the precursor to a punchline and every bad joke made in jest about the legal profession. Yet, reality is often clouded when people think about the root causes to problems based on their [...]
Whistleblower: any employee who takes it upon themselves to report, to authorities, instances of their company’s unlawful behavior. Examples of this behavior may include corporate fraud, misstatements in financial documents, noncompliance with payroll regulations, or discovery of health and safety violations in the workplace.
Powerful Silicon Valley software giant Oracle is being sued by the U.S. [...]
To learn more about J. Gary Gwilliam's book Getting A Winning Verdict In My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul , please