The Tort System Works Best When We Cooperate, Coordinate & Communicate

If you missed our blog prompted by William Baldwin’s editorial in Forbes, we invite you to check it out: Forbes: Tort Attorneys Recognized as Leaders in the Fight for Food Safety. Now we’d like to drill down a little further on the tort system’s regulatory role in food safety, and specifically address the importance of a communal perspective in the tort law environment.

Tort System as Regulator

We were pleased to see Forbes’ recognition of the tort system’s role in, shall we say, motivating wayward food companies to clean up their act and take responsibility for providing safe food. A closer look at the tort system’s “secondary regulatory function” reveals that foodborne illness litigation often serves as a de facto primary regulator, taking up the slack where governmental agencies may fail. In the absence of adequate federal regulatory resources, we’re fortunate to have a legal system that can act in tandem with and serve as the final safety net for consumers.

Cooperation is a Key to the Tort System’s Success

The tort system is only as effective as the attorneys working within it. Without the continued support of its seasoned professionals, as well as the fresh energy of new recruits, the system suffers. The very title of Baldwin’s Forbes article states it perfectly: “Needed: Tort Lawyers.” Those lawyers should make it a priority to nourish the system…that means share, teach, coordinate, network, encourage, inspire, and respect each other. All of that, in an atmosphere of civility and professionalism. We’re all in this “food fight” together.

My Contribution

So what are experienced tort lawyers doing – and more specifically, what am I doing – to help educate, train, and share information with other lawyers so we can keep the tort system and its regulatory function alive and well? First a little background. My foray into food and water borne illness litigation began over 20 years ago when I represented the family of an offshore worker who died as a result of an ingested pathogen that was alleged to have come from a contaminated water source on the drilling rig aboard which he worked. Since that time, our firm has helped thousands of people with problems associated with food and water borne illness. Over the course of several decades, we have handled a wide variety of such cases, including most recently hundreds of cases associated with the ConAgra peanut butter outbreak, fast food restaurant contamination, contaminated ground water involving thousands of residents, foreign matter in packaged products, and more. We are also currently representing hundreds of farmers in Multidistrict Federal litigation involving genetically modified rice.

Over the last 3 decades, I’ve prepared over 250 speeches and articles. I teach at Law Schools and Judicial Colleges.  I’ve been the president of our local Bar Association and the local chapter of the American Inns of Court. I’ve been recognized by the likes of Martindale Hubel (AV rating), the Best Lawyers of America, the Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys, Super Lawyers, Best in the United States, and the National Law Journal for achieving one of the nation’s largest verdicts.

And what about now?  What am I currently doing? Here are a few examples:

• I will be speaking on Preemption in Minneapolis at a Federal Bar Association Symposium in June on a panel with academicians and a U.S. federal district court judge
• Trial Magazine will publish a Daubert article I co-authored in July
• I will be serving as a faculty member for the LSU Law Center’s Trial Advocacy Program in the fall, a program I’ve been part of since its inception over 15 years ago
• I am working on a peer reviewed article regarding food safety and foodborne illness litigation
• I’ll be on a continuing legal education panel this summer with the former dean of the LSU Law School and two Federal Judges to discuss recent developments in tort law
• I will be Chairing an Admiralty Symposium and a Mass Tort symposium in the fall
• I am contributing a chapter on the Multidistrict Litigation to a book (Treatise on Class Actions) that will be published by the American Bar Association

But Enough About Me…

And what of all this? Let me be the first to say it:

So what? Big deal.

There are many lawyers who quietly do the same and have achieved similar recognition. And that’s precisely my point: it’s not about big names, honors, or an egotistical sense of accomplishment. What matters is that these efforts translate into benefits for victims and a safer environment for everyone.

The Future of Foodborne Illness Tort Law

As a seasoned attorney with proven experience in many areas of tort law including the foodborne illness arena, I enjoy combining forces with colleagues to improve and strengthen the tort system. My clients — and the public — benefit from these collaborations. I encourage anyone who cares about the future of food safety to cooperate, coordinate, and communicate for the greater good of the tort system, our food system, and the future of public health.

One Response to “The Tort System Works Best When We Cooperate, Coordinate & Communicate”

1. FDA Creates Transparency Task Force to Enhance Public Information Exchange - NBA FOODAdvocate says:

   June 19, 2009 at 12:11 AM

   [...] blogged before on the frequent failure of the FDA and other regulatory agencies to protect the public from [...]

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