Fixing the Legal System

[AndyZ]

Let's see...

Liebeck was wearing cotton sweatpants; they absorbed the coffee and held it against her skin, scalding her thighs, buttocks, and groin.[12]

Well, here's the issue as to why most people don't have it happen even when they spill the coffee on themselves...I think.

However, the company's own research showed that some customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while driving.[18]

So, we know that it's not actually hot enough to burn the mouth and throat when drunk.

Or do we?

Other documents obtained from McDonald's showed that from 1982 to 1992 the company had received more than 700 reports of people burned by McDonald's coffee to varying degrees of severity, and had settled claims arising from scalding injuries for more than $500,000.[6]

Alright, so what are some of these other settlements, and what made this one not worth settling for more than $800?

Sadly, the wikipedia link isn't working.  But I found it here: http://www.business.txstate.edu/users/ds26/Business%20Law%202361/Misc/McDonalds%20coffee.pdf

Even more eye-opening was the revelation that McDonald's had seen
such injuries many times before. Company documents showed that in the
past decade McDonald's had received at least 700 reports of coffee
burns ranging from mild to third degree, and had settled claims arising
from scalding injuries for more than $500,000.
  Some observers wonder why McDonald's, after years of settling
coffee-burn cases, chose to take this one to trial. After all, the
plaintiff was a sympathetic figure -- an articulate, 81-year-old former
department store clerk who said under oath that she had never filed
suit before. In fact, she said, she never would have filed this one if
McDonald's hadn't dismissed her request for compensation for pain and
medical bills with an offer of $800.

But, doesn't say why.

Wow.. sounds like McDonalds could have avoided it by going with the offer that they originally asked for.

One of the things I've often heard about the legal system is that people will figure out court costs and deliberately aim for a number beneath that cost.  Since it's usually cheaper to settle than it is to actually fight the suit, most corporations will just settle.

However, I have no idea how accurate this is.  I'd love if someone could verify that one way or another.

[gaggedLouise]

How about that different McDonald's joints may actually have somewhat different kinds of heating and storage gear, resulting in different temepratures at the point when the customer receives the coffee cup? Though McD's won't take that line because it would go against their slogan of always offering the same quality and setup in their products.

(I was going to post here that "they certainly don't serve 140 or 185 degrees coffee around here, but then I realized everybody was talking Fahrenheit degrees. Read in Centigrade it would have been preposterously hot!  :D )

[Oniya]

How about that different McDonald's joints may actually have somewhat different kinds of heating and storage gear, resulting in different temepratures at the point when the customer receives the coffee cup? Though McD's won't take that line because it would go against their slogan of always offering the same quality and setup in their products.

(I was going to post here that "they certainly don't serve 140 or 185 degrees coffee around here, but then I realized everybody was talking Fahrenheit degrees. Read in Centigrade it would have been preposterously hot!  :D )

That would involve a percolator, where the water is actually brought to the boiling point.  Maybe for espresso machines, but not Mickey-Dee's  ;D

[Tyrunea]

I have no grounding whatsoever in the realities of the political situation (it's somewhat hard to get a look at the inner workings -.-)
But, my idea on fixing it is to boil things down to the essentials, then create a system that is capable of combating entropy just through existing. A set of checklists that work in tandem to keep the others balanced, that themselves resist being twisted to serve human purposes. I got the idea from the Companions of Valdemar, and as impossible as it sounds, that's how I see the situation. There's about a hundred million things that would go into building something like that... generations of work. And maintaining the momentum against the nature of people to forget about ensuring peace when peace exists is almost impossible to do.