Learning from Seinfeld: The Most Important Part of Rules

By Jeb Butler |

June 29, 2015

In one classic Seinfeld episode, a rental car company did not have a car for Jerry, even though he had made a reservation. Jerry tells the customer service rep, “You know how to take a reservation, you just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation – the holding.” Watch it here.

Many Butler Kahn clients are injured because companies did not follow safety protocol. Like the rental car company in Seinfeld, these real-life companies know how to (and do) create and document safety rules; BUT, they don’t know or follow their own rules – which, as Seinfeld teaches us, is the most important part.

In one recent Butler Kahn case, a large company allowed one of its drivers to drive a company van for up to a week, even though the van’s gas gauge was broken. The company claimed it did not violate any of its policies in allowing the van on the road. In this clip, you can see Butler Kahn attorney Mike Rafi show that 1) the company’s own safety director did not know the company’s rules and 2) the company did not follow its rules.

[videosingle id=”8913″ /]
Butler Kahn fights the powerful on behalf of the injured, and holds companies accountable when they ignore rules designed to protect people.

Jeb Butler

Jeb Butler’s career as a Georgia trial lawyer has led to a $150 million verdict in a product liability case against Chrysler for a dangerous vehicle design that caused the death of a child, a $45 million settlement for a young man who permanently lost the ability to walk and talk, and numerous other verdicts and settlements, many of which are confidential at the defendant’s insistence. Jeb has worked on several cases that led to systemic changes and improvements in public safety. He has been repeatedly recognized as a Georgia SuperLawyer and ranks among Georgia’s legal elite. Jeb graduated in the top 10% of his class at UGA Law, argued on the National Moot Court team, and published in the Law Review. He is the founding partner of Butler Kahn law firm. Connect with me on LinkedIn