An original documentary film, Hot Coffee, recently premiered on HBO. The film takes its name from the now-infamous case in which an elderly woman sued McDonald’s after she was severely burned by hot coffee. The case was pounced upon by big business interests, who distorted the facts and promoted it as an example of frivolous lawsuits. In this Legal Briefs video, Beasley Allen Shareholder Gibson Vance, who is current president of the American Association for Justice, talks about how the tort reform movement was born, and Americans are persuaded little by little to sign away their rights to access justice in the court system.

Beasley Allen is representing the City of Montgomery and its Police Department in an effort to recover money spent for new law enforcement video equipment that failed to function properly.

Gibson Vance touches on several different subjects in this interview such as the lawsuit against Exxon Mobile oil spill 19 years ago when Joseph Hazelwood crashed the ship in Alaska causing an environmental disaster. He also talks about how judges are elected in Alabama, along with the regal decision and arbitration.