Fairfax & Loudoun Personal Injury Lawyer - Miscellaneous - Latest Comments

A comment on The Social Security Denial Saga

Melissa Landau — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:30:55 GMT

Thank you Kevin for your interest. Of course, if someone comes in and we feel that an appeal won't be successful then we don't encourage it. Appealing such cases would be frivolous and would be to nobody's benefit.

My point is that many people who are eligible are denied and that with our help many of these decisions are reversed and these people get the SSDI benefits to which they are entitled.

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

Facebook User — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:46:34 GMT

I'm very excited i stumbled upon this site. My friend was telling me how I shouldn't practice in the area of personal injury because of all the frivolous lawsuits "those attorneys" are known for, citing the McDonald's case. This of course made me furious because people are completely ignorant of the actual facts of the case, yet love to reference it when they are degrading the profession. It is good news to hear they are making a film to enlighten those too lazy to read about it. I think it will help to some extent with the negative opinions so many have, though I am not insinuating all plaintiff's attorneys make the best decisions as to what cases to pursue...

And poor Cupholder guy, your patent attorney has you thinking people will sue for just about anything. I'm sure Canada is different, but it's not as bad as you were lead to believe. Your patent attorney was trying to protect you in every possible way he could think of, which included "improbable but not impossible". If it makes you feel any better, in Louisiana if something is obvious or "common sense" as you put it(such as hot liquids spilling out of a cup holder when driving over bumpy terrain) then you normally would not be liable under our Products Liability Act for an inadequate warning. Now if your cup holder didn't work properly as was intended, then that would be a different issue, but not for omitting a warning for what you suggested.

But glad to hear about the movie, I will gladly pass this information along to my colleagues.

A comment on The Social Security Denial Saga

kevin — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 07:28:39 GMT

Some people who file for disability are not eligible.

If your success rate is 99% then you must be screening out people who you think will lose.

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

Darren Wilson — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:32:44 GMT

Hey Cupholder Guy - thanks for taking part in the conversation.

Yes, it would be at least a little silly if someone brewed their OWN coffee at nearly 200 degrees (intentionally, despite having hundreds of reports of burns caused by same on hand), filled up a flimsy styrofoam cup with it, put it in your company's cupholder (which is replete with warnings), and went speeding down speed bump alley, sloshing near boiling fluid all over the place. Any sensible person would expect to run the risk of being burned.

Given those facts, it would be even sillier if the individual above tried to sue you. But silliest would be a lawyer who spent his own money and time to bring that suit against you. You and I would both find that ridiculous, and so would a jury, I imagine.

What we are talking about with Hot Coffee, the documentary, is a company (McDonalds) that did all those foolish things, but handed the coffee off to an elderly woman who, incidentally, was parked in the parking spot when she spilled the 190 degree coffee on herself, resulting in 3rd degree burns so bad that she needed skin grafts.

The more I learn of this case, the more comfortable I am with the jury's decisions.

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

Steve Lombardi — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:36:26 GMT

Cupholder Guy: Do what you're doing, keep adding common sense and evaluation; warn of dangers and you'll be okay. But please see the movie and let us know what you think of it.

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

doug landau — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:44:28 GMT

Dear guys, One of the main facts that got the jury angry with McDonalds was their callous disregard of the the health and safety of the public. They didn't have just 10 or 20 prior scalding incidents, they had over 150 ! Cupholder guy sounds very responsive and responsible. I am sure that if he had a product that was certain to cause devastating, permanent injury (such as 190 degree scalding hot liquid in a flimsy cup with no reinforcement), he would take reasonable steps to keep more people from being injured for life. McDonald's did NOT get the message until this jury verdict was handed down. It is one of the positive effects of placing a case like this in the hands of a jury to decide the case after hearing all of the evidence. Doug Landau

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

CupHolderGuy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:54:19 GMT

I also meant that last comment in a hypothetical accident scenario.

I mean our cup holder works great, but a consumer operating outside of what is common sense might face some issues.

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

CupHolderGuy — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:50:22 GMT

No, I'll definitely check it out, but seriously is it truly outrageous to think that someone might sue my small company if God forbid their cup holder is on a scooter or powerchair, they hit a bump, and a hot liquid spills on them?

I'd be silly to NOT carry insurance, right?

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

James Cool — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:37:35 GMT

CupHolder Guy:

I strongly recommend you go see Hot Coffee once it's completed. Ms. Liebeck's case is absolutely not an example of someone being "sue happy."

a.) The car was stopped, not traveling over bumps or in motion

b.)The coffee was un-drinkably hot, kept so to ensure greater profitability.

c.) What happened to her were not your typical "ow I burned myself" injuries. Her injuries were positively ghastly.

A comment on “Hot Coffee” spills the beans on frivolous lawsuit charges

Jane Akre — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 11:33:52 GMT

I'm hearing you Steve. Collectively we can change the conversation....