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 meant for everyone at the firm. It takes a dedicated and very hardworking team to collect, sort, file, retrieve, assemble, analyze and present all the material involved in an action such as this. Though I know this case came at an extremely busy time for Marler Clark, each of you accomplished your work with seeming ease, all while making us feel as though we were your only client. From our first call, on October 6, 2006, with Dave Babcock, every contact, with every individual, was a positive one. At the end, all of that was reinforced by a reasonable settlement.

However, the real joy in our association with Marler Clark was the tremendous effort each of you exerted in trying to effect positive change within the food industry. Your work to assure food purity along the entire food chain, from production, packaging, shipping and preparation, really sets the Marler Clark team apart from the crowd.

Though nothing will bring my mother back and no amount of money could ease the heartache of losing her, your efforts have been very fruitful. Having her illness and death held up to the light, for all to see, has done a great deal to create awareness and remedy the problem of leafy green-borne E.coli illness and death. Television programs from both Dateline and CNN were viewed by millions, California continues to move toward adoption of three critical pieces of food purity legislation, the Federal Government is aware of the problem, Natural Selection Foods conducts pre-packaging purity testing and hopefully, we are a few steps closer to the acceptance of irradiation. I am confident that these changes were initiated or greatly accelerated because of Marler Clark’s proactive crusade for safer food supply.

At the end of the game each of you can be glad of the legal victories you achieve on behalf of your clients. But your real pride sho8uld come from the knowledge that you have helped make the world a better place and saved many from the ravages of poisoned food. My family hopes that no one should go through what my mother did; each of you have helped bring that dream closer to reality. We give our thanks to each and every one of the Marler Clark team!

Sincerely,

Polly Costello