The Akron Legal News

Seminar will examine the true story behind the McDonald's hot coffee case

TIFFANY L. PARKS
Special to the Legal News
Published: April 1, 2015

The plaintiff’s name may not ring a bell, but Stella Liebeck’s 1994 lawsuit against McDonald’s sent shockwaves through pop culture and became a media firestorm.

The case, which centered around the 79-year-old woman suffering third-degree burns in her pelvic region after spilling hot coffee from the fast-food giant in her lap, invoked widespread cynicism and became a rallying cry for tort reform.

Much of the derision of the 21-year-old case still exists and it’s often highlighted as proof that the American legal system has lost its way.

“It has always been true that the ‘facts’ of any litigation are never fully known, particularly to those who are not privy to or who do not attend a particular trial,” said Mark Kitrick of Kitrick Lewis & Harris Co., L.P.A.

“The ‘hot coffee’ case simply brought to the forefront issues about dissemination of non-facts into the public arena. Media, gossip and simple conjecture have always seemed to be a popular substitute for actual due diligence, and it is easier to perpetuate hype than go on a true fact finding mission.”

Kitrick, who has practiced law for more than 30 years, will use the controversial lawsuit as his backdrop to delve into the recent evolution of modern tort reform at an upcoming CLE at the Columbus Bar Association.

“Hot Coffee: Exposing the Truth, Lies and Misperceptions of our Litigation System” will take place April 9.

“When this case verdict came out, everyone heard about it and ‘learned’ about it through the media. The media and those who decided to focus on the case had the facts all wrong and used it as a means to argue that the jury system and juries are out of control, which is completely false,” Kitrick said.

“The public simply bought into this notion, believing that such lawsuits ended up costing all of us unnecessary money.”

Initially, a New Mexico civil jury awarded Liebeck $2.86 million.

The trial judge lowered the final verdict to $640,000 and the parties later settled for a confidential amount.

The biggest media splash centered around the initial jury verdict and many claimed Liebeck had received “jackpot justice.”

“That case is still brought up by most people when asked for examples of how juries are out of control and myths surround this verdict to this day, sadly,” Kitrick said.

“Fortunately, trial attorneys do know the truth about jury verdicts and the myths surrounding our system and we want lawyers and the public to know the real truth; hence my talk at the CBA.”

During the event, attendees will take a quiz and Kitrick will highlight national jury verdicts and statistics.

“Verdicts are not out of control no matter what way you view them. In fact, verdicts are more conservative than ever and it is harder and harder to get into court in front of a jury than ever before,” he said, adding that the vast majority of cases that are filed and proceed to trial are not injury, death or tort cases.

Kitrick went on to say that most people, including lawyers, don’t know the truth about Liebeck’s lawsuit.

“It is truly eye opening once people learn the actual facts that the jury heard when coming to its verdict. People are shocked and when they hear what really happened, they actually agree with the verdict,” he said.

In the years since the matter went to trial, Kitrick said the biggest misperception about the litigation system is that “junkyard justice and juries have gone wild on cases.”

He said the backlash against cases such as the McDonald’s lawsuit have had damaging consequences.

“There is a strong, measured stealth attack on the jury and civil litigation system and our constitutional right to a jury system is being stolen right out from under us every day in many ways, including through a “forced arbitration” system prevalent in many credit card agreements,” Kitrick said.

“This is eroding our Constitution and destroying the American way.”

Kitrick said he’s excited to present the CLE event and believes attendees will recognize “how they have been misled and lied to by certain corporations” and how their jury rights are being eroded.

“I am hopeful they will leave excited and proud at all the good that trial lawyers are actually doing. The facts are clear: attorneys always have and always will protect victims in many important ways,” he said.

“The very fact that all levels of government have consumer protection legislation and, most recently, a federal consumer protection watchdog system is simply demonstrative of the need to protect those very legal rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution.”

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