Comments on: Ted on the Return(?) of the Coffee Tort https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:41:53 +0000 hourly 1 By: Update: Alice Griffin v. Starbucks https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-20581 Sat, 07 Jun 2008 15:37:13 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-20581 […] our August 2006 post on Alice Griffin v. Starbucks: Griffin alleged that a Starbucks barista spilled hot […]

]]> By: Rod Heggy https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-3809 Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:00:50 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-3809 How is the blogging community evaluating the value of the claim? I’ve seen no mention of medical expenses, medical reports of residual disability, or, heaven forbid, the expenses incurred in litigation or, gasp, legal fees.

[All of that information is in the cited links. Medical expenses were $1,000.–TF]

]]> By: LAN3 https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-3808 Thu, 17 Aug 2006 11:17:15 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-3808 Of course Stella Liebeck was driving– it’s just that she had set the cruise control and taken her hands off the wheel to fiddle with her coffee when she saw someone with their lights off at night and decided to flash her lights. Suddenly she was part of a gang initiation…

[Fortunately, the one-armed murderer was still attached to her passenger-side mirror, and was able to fend off the gangsters. — T.F.]

]]> By: KipEsquire https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-3807 Thu, 17 Aug 2006 07:16:11 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-3807 So first I’m wrong about invoking remitittur at all, then I’m wrong for invoking it too soon?

Go figure.

]]> By: Xrlq https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-3806 Wed, 16 Aug 2006 16:25:37 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-3806 In the pre-Liebeck era, I used to enjoy sipping the ultra-hot coffee from McD’s. Now that they serve it at normal-coffee temperature, I can actually tell that the stuff tastes like crap. Can I sue them for that, or do I have to enlist a clumsy McD’s employee to spill the stuff on my tastebuds for me?

]]> By: Ted https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-3805 Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:52:09 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-3805 Okay, I see the New York state law was changed so that a judge has the power to award remittitur when damages “deviate materially from reasonable compensation,” which is a much lower standard of deference than most courts give to damages awards. CPLR § 5501(c). So one can legitimately blame the judge in this instance.

]]> By: KipEsquire https://www.overlawyered.com/2006/08/ted-on-the-return-of-the-coffee-tort/comment-page-1/#comment-3804 Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:45:26 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/wpblog/?p=3833#comment-3804 But the judge herself suggested that the damage award was too high.

That might not rise to the “no rational jury could award…” standard we think of in post-verdict relief, but it’s indicative of the phenomenon I’m describing.

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