E-mail:
Jack Balkin: jackbalkin at yahoo.com
Bruce Ackerman bruce.ackerman at yale.edu
Ian Ayres ian.ayres at yale.edu
Corey Brettschneider corey_brettschneider at brown.edu
Mary Dudziak mary.l.dudziak at emory.edu
Joey Fishkin joey.fishkin at gmail.com
Heather Gerken heather.gerken at yale.edu
Abbe Gluck abbe.gluck at yale.edu
Mark Graber mgraber at law.umaryland.edu
Stephen Griffin sgriffin at tulane.edu
Jonathan Hafetz jonathan.hafetz at shu.edu
Jeremy Kessler jkessler at law.columbia.edu
Andrew Koppelman akoppelman at law.northwestern.edu
Marty Lederman msl46 at law.georgetown.edu
Sanford Levinson slevinson at law.utexas.edu
David Luban david.luban at gmail.com
Gerard Magliocca gmaglioc at iupui.edu
Jason Mazzone mazzonej at illinois.edu
Linda McClain lmcclain at bu.edu
John Mikhail mikhail at law.georgetown.edu
Frank Pasquale pasquale.frank at gmail.com
Nate Persily npersily at gmail.com
Michael Stokes Paulsen michaelstokespaulsen at gmail.com
Deborah Pearlstein dpearlst at yu.edu
Rick Pildes rick.pildes at nyu.edu
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Richard Primus raprimus at umich.edu
K. Sabeel Rahmansabeel.rahman at brooklaw.edu
Alice Ristroph alice.ristroph at shu.edu
Neil Siegel siegel at law.duke.edu
David Super david.super at law.georgetown.edu
Brian Tamanaha btamanaha at wulaw.wustl.edu
Nelson Tebbe nelson.tebbe at brooklaw.edu
Mark Tushnet mtushnet at law.harvard.edu
Adam Winkler winkler at ucla.edu
Congratulations to Bill Haltom and Micheal McCann, whose study of tort reform, DISTORTING THE LAW: POLITICS, MEDIA, AND THE LITIGATION CRISIS (Chicago 2004) has just won the Pritchett Award for the best book published in public law over the last two years. Haltom and McCann do a wonderful expose on how major corporations, posing as tort reformers, have used the mass media to portray a tort crisis that does not exist. Focusing on the famous McDonald's episode and other popular media anecdotes, they highlight how the media, egged on by corporate lawyers, focuses on sensational cases, ignoring both the disturbing practices underlying those cases (McDonald's was repeatedly warned that their coffee was causing injuries) and the more numerous cases in which plaintiffs with powerful tort claims get nothing. Well written and well worth reading. Special congratulations are in order to Professor McCann, as this is his record setting second book (RIGHTS AT WORK) that has won the Pritchett prize. Posted
1:34 PM
by Mark Graber [link]
Comments:
There are many details of the McDonald's case that are distorted by the plaintiff's side, too. But all you really need to know is this: McDonald's served its coffee at 180 degrees. Boiling temperature, and the temperature at which hot drinks are made at home, is 212 degrees.