E. coli lawsuits spread faster than infection

The recent E. coli outbreak may have been bad for spinach growers and packagers, but at least their lawyers will eat well. With almost 200 sick and one dead, there can be little doubt they will ring up thousands of billable hours defending their clients against a slew of product liability lawsuits — especially now that Marler Clark, a Seattle, Washington-based product liability law firm, has joined the battle. With a staff epidemiologist and a nurse on staff, the firm is known as “the go-to place for victims of food-borne illnesses,” the Wall Street Journal reported. After posting a notice earlier this month on a section of the Marler Clark Web site dedicated exclusively to E. coli cases, the firm now represents seventy-six clients and has already filed five lawsuits. Named defendants include Natural Selection Foods and Dole Food.

Although E. coli-related suits do not have the same earning potential as asbestos or tobacco, severe cases, especially those involving hemolytic uremic syndrome, can bring in between $1 and $15 million when settled (despite having six lawyers on staff, Marler Clark habitually avoids going to court and has done so only once, winning a $4.6 million verdict against a Washington State school district). Less severe cases, with symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and dehyrdation, are typically worth between $25,000 and $500,000. Of this, Marler Clark takes a 35 percent contingency fee (25 percent for cases involving children).

The firm makes sophisticated use of the Internet to attract clients. Its first from the recent outbreak, for instance, was searching for health information about his condition when he came across one of Marler Clark’s Web site. He soon cancelled an appointment with a local lawyer and signed on with Marler Clark. The firm also hosts a number of weblogs, or blogs, that provide updated news on issues from E. coli to cryptosporidium to petting zoo safety. The blogs downplay litigation and instead focus on providing factual material, suspecting correctly that interested parties will click on the ‘ask an attorney’ button. Business is good. All told, Marler Clark claims to have settled more than $250 million in lawsuits, enough for Bill Marler’s wife to drive a lime-green Volkswagen Bug bearing the license plate ECOLI.

-read more in Heather Won Tesoriero and Peter Lattman’s Wall Street Journal report; Marler Clark Web site