June 2007

CNN will re-run its Special Investigation on our food supply this weekend.  The focus is on the E. coli outbreak tied to spinach, but is also a stern warning about the safety, or lack thereof, of our food supply.

Jay Dow from CBS Channel 2 reported the tragedy of a young student’s death.

What’s unclear, however, is how the boy contracted the bacteria. State health officials say the Jackson Avenue School nurse sent the boy home sick on June 13, but he did not have diarrhea or a fever. That’s important because health officials

The Associated Press and the Salinas Californian reported that the US Attorney’s Office has closed its investigation into last year’s E.coli outbreak linked to fresh spinach from the Salinas Valley, the Associated Press has reported.  The investigation included searches at Growers Express in Salinas, and Natural Selection Foods in San Juan Bautista, California, as well

I spoke with Jeff Elder of the Charlotte Observer yesterday afternoon during a break in mediation in Minnesota of nearly 20 E. coli-related illnesses:

The scary goat-slaughter E. coli story is getting attention from national experts. “This is the most bizarre case I’ve seen in 15 years of doing food-poisoning cases,” Bill Marler, a Seattle

Let me first say that the meat industry had been doing something right. E. coli illnesses and outbreaks were down, and down substantially, from 2003 to a few weeks ago.  From Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993 through the Summer of the ConAgra outbreak of in 2002, most of the work we did at

William Marler is the managing partner of Marler Clark. He began representing victims of foodborne illness outbreaks in 1993, when he represented Brianne Kiner in her $15.6 million E. coli settlement with Jack in the Box. In 1998, Mr. Marler joined his current law partners in a practice dedicated to representing victims of foodborne illness.

Mr. William Marler
Marler Clark L.L.P., P.S.
6600 Bank of America Tower
701 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104

Dear Bill,

As we approach the conclusion of my mother’s (Ruby LaFon Trautz) case, I wanted to thank everyone there for your work on behalf of my family. Though this letter is addressed to you, it is

According to the Associated Press:

A woman infected with E. coli has died in a Rowan County hospital. Rowan Regional Medical Center officials say 86-year-old Faye Sides died yesterday of multiple organ failure related to the infection. Sides was 1 of 20 people who ate at a restaurant in China Grove and became ill about