Return to story

Not all personal-injury lawsuits are stuff of jokes

December 5, 2006 6:03 am

There is this preconceived notion around the nation that lawyers and their clients are out to exploit whoever they can to get a nice cash-out.

This is hardly the case. Lawyers work tremendous hours, seeking justice for their clients, and rarely take the frivolous lawsuits that usually fizzle out in the justice system.

In his Nov. 26 letter to the editor, William Ball Jr. claims that stupid people were just out for money when a woman sued McDonald's because "the coffee was hot" ["It's mourning in America "].

Let's get the facts straight here. The coffee was so hot that it gave the 79-year-old woman third-degree burns in her groin, thigh, and buttocks areas.

In the week of hospitalization, she had to receive skin grafts. Furthermore, despite all this, she pre- ferred settling to suing, seeking only enough to cover her medical expens- es. McDonald's offered her less than $1,000.

In court, testimony and documents were presented that the McDonalds' quality assurance manager knew that the coffee was so hot that it could cause third-degree burns.

McDonald's knew it had burned hundreds of patrons before and refused to lower the temperature, despite this knowledge.

That is why the woman won her case for what the judge described as the "reckless, callous, and willful" conduct of McDonald's.

So before people claim that this country is overwrought with frivolous lawsuits, do the research first.

Many of those suits that look frivolous on the top actually have real substance to them.

Stafford