E. Coli Lawyer Is Busier Than Ever

Seattle attorney Bill Marler represented one of the children poisoned by e. coli in a Jack in the Box meal by in 1993 and since then has made a specialty of food safety litigation. E. Coli Lawyer Is Busier Than Ever, Associated Press, Feb. 4, 2008.

"Bill was certainly at the right place at the right time entering the field of food safety litigation," says Caroline Smith DeWaal, who is in charge of food safety at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. "I see him in kind of a private attorney general role."

In a better, safer world, he wouldn't bring so many suits (or at least not in this area):

Marler continually implores the food industry to "put me out of business" by adopting more stringent safety procedures. He sent the lettuce industry a letter in 2006 in which he called on growers to stop using irrigation water contaminated with cattle and human feces, to wash fruits and vegetables more thoroughly, and to provide field hands with bathrooms.

"These steps will help make our food supply safer and will enable us to keep our most vulnerable citizens — kids and seniors — out of harm's way," he wrote. "And, with a little luck, it will force one damn trial lawyer to find another line of work."

To keep up with Bill and food safety law, see Marlerblog.

Photo from USDA Food Safety Inspection Service.