PANEL DISCUSSION – How safe is the food supply in the United States?
Salmonella in chicken, Bisphenol-A (BPA) in canned food, bacteria in bagged salad—over Consumer Reports’ 75 years, our lab tests and critical reporting has informed the public of these and other dangers lurking in our food supply.
This panel discussion, which will take
Bill Marler updates his many blogs each day about the latest foodborne illness outbreak and travels the world delivering speeches, imploring the food industry to improve its safety measures. All this while working the phones to get money for the victims.
Like it or not, the personal injury attorney behind most every lawsuit associated with foodborne outbreaks is also known away from the courtroom as one of the nation’s leading food safety advocates. He’s always raising red flags about what he considers lax industry testing or inadequate government oversight.
Marler created a niche for himself since winning his first settlement in 1993 – $15.6 million for a girl sickened by E. coli from a Jack in the Box hamburger. He’s in the forefront again thanks to a listeria outbreak in cantaloupe that has sickened more than 100 people and killed at least 21.
His firm already has filed six lawsuits against Colorado grower Jensen Farms, where federal health authorities say the listeria outbreak originated, and a distributor. While Jensen recalled more than 300,000 cases of cantaloupe, neither the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention nor the Food and Drug Administration have determined the source of the outbreak.
Critics contend his advocacy work isn’t based on the best available science and mainly serves to benefit his law firm. Colleagues call him a dedicated attorney who advocates for his clients and knows the subject matter as well or better than anyone else.
“A lot of people who don’t know me very well see the workaholic, always traveling, the persona, but what I’ve tried to do with my job is to make it more of a vocation,” he said. “I love what I do, and I believe in what I do.”
His clients lavish praise on him.
Linda Rivera, 59, was hospitalized for two years after getting ill from E. coli in cookie dough. Her husband, Richard, said he had a list of three attorneys to call, and when the first two heard Marler was also on the list, they deferred.
“These people gave up cases, money, because they knew he was the best,” he said. “It wasn’t about money. Bill gave me peace of mind to know I can take care of Linda. He’s definitely leaving a legacy and having an impact on food safety.”Continue Reading AP Profile – Listeria outbreak draws Seattle lawyer to battle
I received this email this morning:
Each year, LexisNexis honors a select group of blogs that set the online standard for a given industry. I’m pleased to notify you that your blog is one of the nominated candidates for the Top 25 Business Law Blogs of 2011, featured on the LexisNexis Corporate & Securities Community. Click on link below to vote.
Each comment is counted as a vote toward the supported blog. To submit a comment, visitors need to log on to their free LexisNexis Communities account. If you haven’t previously registered, you can do so for free by following this LINK. The comment box is at the very bottom of the blog nomination page. The comment period for nominations ends on October 25, 2011. We will then post the Top 25 Business Law Blogs of 2011. Thereafter, our community will vote to choose the Top Blog through a Zoomerang survey. I anticipate the final announcement to be made in early November.
Nearly two decades of profiles:Continue Reading Marler Blog – Top Business Law Blog Nominee
On Friday the week before I spent part of a day with Shannon Dininny of AP on the one day that I had been in the office for sometime. Since Monday I have been to Toronto to give a speech on food safety, D.C. to push for House Hearings on the Listeria Outbreak and then
The following letter will be going out this week signed by nearly two dozen Marler Clark clients:
October 6, 2011
The Honorable Fred Upton, Chairman
House Energy and Commerce Committee
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Cliff Stearns, Chairman
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
House Energy and Commerce
Today Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry A. Waxman and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Diana DeGette sent a letter to Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Cliff Stearns requesting an investigation and hearing on the recent outbreak of Listeria monoctyogenes in cantaloupe. The members are
Since “organicfarmer” posted this comment on Food Safety News last week, I have not been able to shake it from my head:
It’s really sad that farms and farmers are getting the brunt of this. I am sad these people died, but median age of 78…. give me a break. I my opinion there is
This week I spent three days in mediation on E. coli O157:H7 cases (and a fair amount of time talking too much about Listeria and cantaloupe). Last week were speeches in Denver and Phoenix to people in the restaurant and hospitality industies about how to avoid foodborne illness claims. The week before that it was
Likely by Monday, the CDC will increase its Listeria illness and death count of 55 and eight. By Monday afternoon the counted illnesses will certainly be well over 60, and I expect deaths to be a dozen and perhaps more. Of course, there are likely many others sickened who will never be counted, and others
I must admit, like salmon in a restaurant or tomatoes in the salad on the latest plane flight, I am a fan of neither. However, the tomatoes from my garden (with a cucumber) or a salmon caught with a fly of the beach, does change the way you feel about food. And, for a guy
