Law prohibits dollar figures in some suits

courtesy of Charleston Daily Mail

by Jake Stump Daily Mail Capitol Reporter

The infamous $10 million lawsuit involving two McDonald's Quarter Pounders has prompted a new state law that will prohibit a specific dollar amount from being listed in personal injury and wrongful death complaints. Legislators in both houses unanimously passed a bill barring lawyers from including a specific monetary amount of damages in such suits. Charleston attorney William Druckman came up with the idea because he felt that the McDonald's suit dealt lawyers like him a black eye and placed too much emphasis on the dollar amount instead of the case itself. An attorney since 1981, Druckman asked House Judiciary Chairwoman Carrie Webster, D-Kanawha, if the Legislature could do anything to stop attorneys from inserting dollar amounts into their lawsuits. Webster sponsored a bill and it sailed through. The new law takes effect July 1. "As a plaintiff's lawyer, I want my client to recover damages based on what evidence can show," Druckman said. "Then you've got some people putting in crazy numbers in order to get their name in the newspaper. I don't like to read about a $10 million burger suit. Nobody reads the paper and says, 'My gosh, what a good case!' It's embarrassing." In a lawsuit filed last July, Jeromy Jackson, who is in his early 20s, claims he ordered two Quarter Pounders without cheese at the McDonald's restaurant in Star City, near Morgantown, before heading to Clarksburg. Jackson contends he bit into a hamburger and suffered a severe allergic reaction to the cheese melted on it. The lawsuit alleges he "was only moments from death" by the time he reached the hospital. His attorney, Timothy Houston, has since removed himself from the case. Jackson's mother, Trela Jackson, and friend Andrew Ellifritiz are also listed as plaintiffs, who say they risked their lives rushing him to United Hospital Center in Clarksburg. They are now representing themselves.