More to the Story
As an advocate for injured people, I want to set the record straight. Roger Ley obviously didn’t watch the documentary he used as the basis for his distorted letter (“Not Loving It,” January 2013).
Anyone who has seen the film “Hot Coffee” has images of the plaintiff’s brutal injuries burned in his or her mind. The facts that compelled a jury to hold McDonald’s accountable included: third degree burns over 16 percent of her body; eight days hospitalization; skin grafting; scarring; admission by McDonald’s that 190-degree coffee was “not fit for consumption”; that for 10 years McDonald’s coffee severely burned 700 other consumers, including children and infants. The fast food giant wasn’t just “hurting” people, it was repeatedly scalding customers for profit.
Perhaps Ley doesn’t believe that citizens deserve to exercise their constitutional right to a jury of their peers. Plaintiff lawyers fight to hold corporations accountable so injured consumers and taxpayers don’t pay the price.
Hala J. Gores, Portland
Gores is president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association
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Clarifications
A profile of Portland attorney Chris Helmer (“Forging Her Own Path,” January 2013) misstated Helmer’s start with bar work. Portland lawyer Leonard A. Girard recruited her to serve on the Board of Bar Examiners. Helmer later ran for and was elected to the OSB Board of Governors. Also, Helmer still chairs the board of directors of the Oregon College of Art and Craft. The Bulletin regrets the errors.