You’ve heard of the case. That "frivolous" lawsuit against McDonald’s because some "stupid" woman spilled hot coffee in her lap. If you haven’t, then here’s a primer. Some (like ABC News) argued that the McDonald’s case was the epitome of lawsuits gone awry. The "broken" legal system, where only the trial attorneys profited, and the ones seeking "justice" failed.
Well, apparently you’re going to see advertisements in the movie theaters that promote lawsuit reform. The mini-trailers are being produced by the Institute for Legal Reform (a subset of the US Chamber of Commerce), and are titled The Faces of Lawsuit Abuse. The organization has a website you can visit, which shares stories and highlights incidents of "lawsuit abuse."
Admittedly, some of the lawsuits cast a grim shadow on the legal industry (like the story of the company sued for aesbestos-laden gaskets). However, like the McDonald’s story, I’m sure there is another side to the story.
What most people fail to remember is that Ms. Liebeck (the "stupid woman") only wanted reimbursement for her medical bills. Moreover, McDonald’s had created mandatory guidelines that required franchises to serve the coffee at a temperature that would cause 3rd degree burns in seconds. No, folks rarely remember these and other aspects of the case. What they remember is that "some stupid old lady couldn’t remember that she was handling ‘hot’ coffee and she burned herself, then she won a huge heap of money." They think that it’s these kinds of folks that are the cause of the great legal injustice in the world.
I had a client who eventually filed a "frivolous lawsuit" after seeking treatment for injuries she sustained in an accident. The client only wanted her insurance company to cover the treatment, but because of bureacratic nonsense, the insurance company refused to cover the claim. The client hired our firm to represent her, and we eventually got medical coverage and compensation.
It’s my belief that most people don’t seek to file a "frivolous" claim. Most have sought to handle their problems in a decent manner and because of budget margins or bonus structures, insurance companies refuse to handle the claim in a just and reasonable manner. You’re paying for insurance because you want protection, and hopefully because you believe others should be compensated if you make a mistake, not because you’re hoping the insurance company will make a profit this year.
I believe if insurance companies, big businesses, and people in general would act responsibly and occassionally confess their mistakes, there would not be a need for attorneys. Sadly though, because there aren’t a sufficient number of responsible people, we get the adversarial system we have today.
You’ll note that I’m not against lawsuit reform (see my posts here and here). However, like anything, where one side prospers in their goals to limit the other side, someone (usually an innocent consumer) suffers.
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