Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

It has often been stated by legislators and lawmakers that greedy trial lawyers and their clients take advantage of the legal system by seeking large verdicts after they are injured by the negligence of another or by a defectively designed or defectively manufactured product.

For years, as an experienced catastrophic injury attorney, I would have friends talk to me about the famous “McDonald’s coffee case” when in fact they had no idea what that case was really about. In fact, the hot coffee propaganda campaign in the newspapers was funded by major corporations who have spent millions of dollars to distort the case promoting tort reform.

I urge all of my readers to view “Hot Coffee” which clearly reveals how large businesses and corporations aided by the media manipulated the public with lies to protect corporate interests. The film follows the lives of four individuals whose lives were devastated by the attacks on our courts, and challenges assumptions many Americans hold about “jackpot justice”.

For over three decades, I have recognized that the collective 500 years of wisdom of individuals comprising a jury have more common sense than anyone else in the courtroom. It is conventional wisdom that products, cars, amusement rides, and premises should be safe from defects. Occupy Wall Street began a worldwide movement protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, as well as corruption and the undue influence that corporations have. The 7th Amendment of the United States Constitution grants us all the right to a trial by a jury of our peers.

Many of the product liability cases that our office regularly investigates and litigates involves someone’s deepest and darkest fears coming true. Imagine receiving a phone call in the middle of the night notifying you that your child or another loved one has been wrongfully killed as a result of being involved in a car accident caused by a defective product design or mechanism that the manufacturers have known for years created an unsafe condition. Everyone has the right to expect that when they purchase an automobile, they are buying a safe car and that safety should never be an option. Yet, in many of our automobile product liability cases, we have been able to show that automobile manufacturers concealed known defects putting the profitability and greed of corporate interests above consumer safety. Simply put, cutting corners on product design or manufacture and not putting safety first is never acceptable. The prevention of an injury must always be priority number one. Cars should be designed to be safe for everyone, adults and children. Concealing safety issues with bold faced lies in the name of business and profits is simply intolerable.

The experienced Philadelphia product liability lawyers of Reiff and Bily understand that one must never be afraid to stand up to big business and corporations. If you or a loved one has been injured by the defective design or manufacture of a product, contact one of our experienced Pennsylvania product liability lawyers for a free, no obligation consultation toll free at 1-800-421-95959 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.

It seems that the tort reformists once again are continuing their attacks on the Philadelphia court system. In a recent article, Philadelphia was listed as the top of eight jurisdictions deemed “hellholes” by the American Tort Reform Foundation with California following second. Tort Reformists claim that Philadelphia judges systematically apply laws and court procedures in an unfair and unbalanced manner generally against defendants in civil lawsuits. Despite the protestations being made by the American Tort Law Reform Association, the question that really must be asked is “Is justice being served?”

Tort Reformists are quick to point out how citizens and lawyers take advantage of certain jurisdictions in America’s legal system. However, if one would look to the lobbyists and corporate bank rollers of the tort reform movement, it is always interesting to note how big business spins the media against lawyers and innocent civilians, throwing any and all obstacles in the way to block their access to the courtrooms.

I watched a documentary on HBO this summer entitled “Hot Coffee,” and I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It is the real story of the infamous McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit and all matters leading to the misleading phrase known as “tort reform.” The tort reformists are quick to point to extreme examples of how citizens take advantage of the legal system and why certain jurisdictions are hellholes. The Constitution guarantees the right to all American citizens to be judged by a jury of their peers, and the tort reformists ought to give the judicial system and jurors the actual credit that they deserve. Certainly there are urban legends of frivolous lawsuits, but for the most part to quote Atticus Finch from To Kill A Mockingbird,“There is only one way in this country in which all men are created equal. There is one human institution that makes a pauper the equal of a Rockefeller, the stupid man the equal of an Einstein, and the ignorant man the equal of a college professor. That institution, gentlemen, is the court.”

Over the weekend, I had a chance to view an HBO documentary entitled “Hot Coffee”. The documentary examined the dangers of so called “tort reform” and its threat to our civil justice system. As an experienced Pennsylvania catastrophic injury
and wrongful death attorney who has personally grieved with clients and witnessed some of the most unimaginable tragedies involving my clients over the last three decades, I feel that it is important that individuals understand that tort reform would block one’s ability to access our civil courts and take away their valuable legal rights.

“Hot Coffee” examines the roles of corporations, government, and complicit media in promoting tort reform and was a selection of the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The stories that are highlighted in the film are similar to many cases that any experienced catastrophic injury or wrongful death lawyer has handled over a long career. The title derives from the McDonald’s hot coffee case which shocked a number of people with a substantial verdict. The verdict was “spun” by many tort reformists and corporate entities into a tale of fright for a largely unknowing American populace. However what most people were not aware of was that McDonald’s acknowledged that there were 700 prior burns and the woman burned by the cup of coffee had quite devastating injuries and not merely a minor superficial burn as many were led to believe. “Hot Coffee” reveals how caps on medical malpractice awards affect those who sustain injuries and require medical care for the rest of their lives. The film also highlights a case regarding mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts and how that has prevented a Halliburton employee who was raped while in a bunker will all fellow male employees from obtaining justice after being raped.

Many are told that trial lawyers are greedy and in fact, I admit that yes I am greedy for justice and sick of the relentless attacks on our civil justice system by big business and the government who continue to emphasize profitability and shareholder return instead of safety. We must aggressively protect one of the greatest gifts of being an American, namely our civil justice system. It is imperative that many know the whole story so that the misconceptions that people have regarding tort reform can be properly addressed. I assure you that after watching the documentary “Hot Coffee” your mind will be changed and you will think differently.

Philadelphia was just honored with the title of being the “number one judicial hellhole” in the U.S. according to the American Tort Reform Association. The American Tort Reform Association stated that Philadelphia just unseated South Florida as a jurisdiction least fair to defendants in their eyes. ATRA further states that (believe it or not) Philadelphia is looking for ways to open itself up to new lawsuits, and claims that certain judges wish to make Philadelphia an attractive city to plaintiffs’ attorneys because “in addition to generating substantial fees for the Court, out-of-state lawyers are also an economic stimulus for Philadelphia.”

As an experienced Philadelphia personal injury and car accident lawyer in Philadelphia since 1979 who has successfully represented plaintiffs in thousands of actions, I take umbrage with the position of an organization that continually strives to delay and deny people’s rights by blocking their access to the courtrooms. The tort reformists consistently attack personal injury lawyers and their clients and do not seem to understand the basic constitutional right of an individual to seek redress for their injuries from an individual or corporate entity that places a defective product or whose behavior injures that person resulting in their inability to work or enjoy the pleasures of life the same as prior to the incident.

Under the current judicial and tort-law system in Philadelphia, victims can recover compensatory damages for loss of a body part, loss of future income, monies for medical expenses, payment for pain and suffering, as well as be compensated for past and future medical bills. The classical element of damages is to provide full compensation for proved harm, or restoration via payment of money to the original state. What I find most interesting about the tort reformists is the fact that when they or their family members are injured, no matter how strong they are on their platform, they seem to be in my experience the most aggressive of all seeking recovery of compensatory damages, and their tort reform arguments seem to fall to the wayside when it comes to them personally. I generally find that the most egregious tort reform advocates are those who receive corporate, insurance industry, and lobbyist funding to communicate their views no matter how extreme, but when it comes time for their individual interests if injured ... pay me!!

At the Philadelphia catastrophic injury, car accident, and medical malpractice firm of Reiff & Bily, we will continue to represent the rights of individuals in an aggressive fashion in what we believe is the fine civil court and justice system of Philadelphia, as well as other jurisdictions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Tort reform focuses on the idea of changing the rules applicable to the law or tort. Torts deal with compensation for wrongs and harm done by one party to another's person, property, or other protected interests such as reputation. The most prominent area of torts and tort reform are personal injury and medical malpractice. The Pennsylvania medical malpractice attorneys and personal injury lawyers at the Philadelphia law firm of Reiff & Bily have been researching and handling numerous tort cases since 1979.

Torts are civil wrongs that are recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit. These wrongs result in an injury or harm forming the basis for a claim by the injured party. The primary goal of tort law is to provide relief for damages that were incurred and deter others from committing the same harms. The injured person may sue for an injunction to prevent the continuation of the harmful conduct or for monetary damages. Among the types of damages the injured party may recover are: (1) loss of earnings capacity, (2) pain and suffering; and (3) reasonable medical expenses. Damages also include present and future expected losses.

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