An enterprising plaintiff attorney in Reserve, Louisiana is considering bringing the plaintiff suits in the E-coli spinach situation to a whole new level. This should have been obvious to all us watchers of the legal scene. Shame on us.
Plaintiff lawyer Daniel E. Becnel, reports Peter Lattman today in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL law blog, has contacted the small Seattle plaintiff law firm Marler Clark who quickly became a big player in E-coli spinach suits about thinking bigger.
Becnel recommends to the legal powers-that-be at Marler Clark expanding the notion of those who are or could be injured by the E-coli fall-out. Restricting injury to physical sickness and death is way too narrow.
Becnel, who probably had his share of pricey spinach salads in upscale restaurants on clients' expense accounts, told those at Marler Clark to consider the injury to the high-end eating establishments which charge about 20 bucks for a spinach salad. The ingredients for a super-deluxe spinach salad, estimates Becnel, run about 1 buck. He also recommended considering all the farmers and their workers hurt by this E-coli outbreak.
Becnel is on to something. A client who lives in Carmel, California has been moved to tears by the idea that so many of those connected with agriculture in the nearby Salinas Valley will be out of work. And given the fears surrounding spinach, they could be out there a long long time.
It's odd that the out-of-box thinkers at Marler Clark needed someone to call the full scope of this tragedy to their attention. And we should have been more on the ball in noting this ourselves.
Comments