Our California E. coli Lawyers and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS Attorneys Offer Free Attorney Consultations to Those Who Have Suffered From E coli Infection and HUS or Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, TTP in Northern or Southern California in Los Angeles the San Francisco Bay Area Berkeley Oakland Santa Clara County San Jose Sacramento Fresno Ventura the San Fernando Valley Orange County San Bernardino and San Diego. Our California Food Poisoning Lawyers Also Will Consider Ecoli HUS and TTP Outbreak Cases Nationally.

Our California E coli lawyers and HUS attorneys will consider serious E. coli illness cases involving Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome or Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura arising in any California county. Our national Ecoli lawyers will consider HUS and TTP cases resulting from Ecoli outbreaks in any state in the country. We offer free consultations. Please consider our credentials as Ecoli attorneys and HUS lawyer discussed below and in the right hand column of this page. And then submit the "California Ecoli HUS Lawyers Case Evaluation Request" and our lead Ecoli HUS attorney will call you to discuss your case, the known or possible sources of your exposure to E. coli contaminated food, and offer his case evaluation and recommendations. Our Ecoli lawyers and HUS attorneys serve Southern and Northern California in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, in San Diego Orange County Ventura Fresno Santa Clara County San Jose Berkeley Oakland and Sacramento. For those who have suffered Ecoli illness and HUS or TTP nationally as the result of an Ecoli outbreak, please review our discussion of our unique credentials advantageous in outbreak litigation below.

California E. coli attorney and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS lawyer Nick Allis has devoted the past several years to food poisoning litigation and in particular the prosecution of E coli and HUS litigation. He is a very highly credentialed trial lawyer, with 30 years experience trying the most highly complex medical litigation.

Most Recent E coli Settlement or Verdict: Multimillion dollar settlement in an Ecoli HUS case, lead attorney Nick Allis, October 1, 2006. The E. coli settlement was one of the largest ever in an HUS case. The specific amount of settlement ordered sealed by the Court.

Mr. Allis has joined with Food and Drug attorney Ray Henke in the prosecution of food poisoning cases arising nationally as the result E coli outbreaks. You may review the credentials of California Ecoli Lawyers HUS and TTP Attorneys, Mr. Allis and Mr. Henke, which are discussed below and in the right column of this page. Then you are invited to submit the E. coli Lawyers HUS and TTP Attorneys Case Evaluation Request Form. Mr. Allis will promptly contact you, he will inquire about the facts of your case and provide you his initial legal analysis of your Ecoli HUS or TTP case and his recommendations. There is absolutely charge for California E coli and HUS attorney case evaluations.

California E coli Lawyer and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS Attorney Nick Allis Is A Highly Experienced California Food Poisoning Lawyer With the Highest Trial Lawyer Credentials.

California E Coli lawyer Nicholas Allis has spent his entire 30 year career as a trial lawyer in the most complex of medical cases, and has devoted the past several years to food poisoning litigation and in particular the prosecution of Ecoli litigation and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS litigation. His entire career has been spent in highly complex medical litigation and pharmaceutical product liability litigation, serving as the sole or lead trial attorney in over 60 major trials. This depth of experience in complex medical litigation provides the background for attorney Allis' qualities he brings to E Coli litigation and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS litigation. It was as a complex medical and pharmaceutical product liability lawyer that Mr. Allis gained his extensive training and education in epidemiology and medical science, which is precisely the background essential for the competent prosecution of food poisoning litigation. But as a measure of attorney Allis' commitment to learning the subject of food poisoning litigation "from the bottom up," even as a nationally acclaimed complex trial lawyer, Mr. Allis took the course of study and passed the test to become a "Certified Food Manager."

Over the past several years he has also extensively studied all of the epidemiological and scientific literature on Ecoli and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome in order to prepare and present his HUS litigation. And he has assembled a team of some of the most highly qualified experts in the country specifically for the presentation of Ecoli HUS cases. He has also conducted the discovery of defendants responsible for ecoli food contamination essential to the preparation of E. Coli litigation. His education and training specifically as an E. Coli and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS attorney is up to date and current; indeed he was scheduled to start trial on one E. Coli HUS case in October 2006.

Most Recent E-Coli Settlement: Mr. Allis settled the above E. coli HUS case on the eve of the trial during a settlement conference in which he presented the conclusions of his world class experts and a "PowerPoint" slide presentation that an attorney employee had spent a month preparing. Mr. Allis achieved one the largest settlements ever obtained in an individual E coli HUS case. It was solely because of Mr. Allis' reputation as a highly successful trial lawyer in complex medical litigation, his specific legal concentration in the food poisening litigation and his devotion to the preparation this E. coli case in particular, just as he devotes himself to all his cases, that he was able to obtain this superior result for his client.

Mr. Allis received his B.A. from Yale University and Juris Doctorate degree from Georgetown University. At Georgetown Law Center, Mr. Allis was on the executive board of the Georgetown Law Journal. He clerked for a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for a year after law school and subsequently became a partner in the nationally acclaimed medical and pharmaceutical product liability Law Office Butler, Dan, Allis and Reback.

California E. Coli and HUS lawyer Mr. Allis gain extensive litigation experience in complex medical and pharmaceutical cases, serving as lead attorney in over 60 major jury trials. Attorney Allis has argued before the United Sates Supreme Court and is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar. In addition to food poisoning and E. Coli and HUS cases Mr. Allis has litigated many complex cases involving the presentation of epidemiological evidence similar to that which is presented in ecoli and HUS cases, as well involving the application of Food and Drug law, in drug and pharmaceutical product litigation, including DES, the Dalcon Shield, Breast Implants, Phen-Phen, Bendectin, and Tylenol, to name a few.

Mr. Allis has served as the President of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, one of the most prestigious and largest bar associations with a membership of over 3000 attorneys. Attorney Allis serves on the Board of Public Counsel, the largest public interest law firm in the United States. He is on the Board of the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation. California E Coli and HUS attorney Allis has received the President's Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Beverly Hills Bar Association and is a lecturer for the California Continuing Education of the Bar and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. He has published numerous legal articles in such journals as the Georgetown Law Journal, the University of Southern California Law Review, as well as in the “Advocate,”the legal journal of the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles.

California E Coli lawyer and HUS Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome attorney Nick Allis is "AV" rated by Martindale & Hubbell, the highest lawyer and law firm rankings awarded by the most highly respected lawyer and law firm rating directory in the United States. Martindale & Hubbell awards its attorney ratings based upon interviews with judges before whom the lawyer has practiced and interviews with other prominent lawyers in the state. The "A" rating is defined as "very high to preeminent" in "legal ability"; the "V" rating is defined as "very high" "general ethical standards." According to Martindale & Hubbell: "AV Peer Review Rating: shows that a lawyer has reached the height of professional excellence. He or she has usually practiced law for many years, and is recognized for the highest levels of skill and integrity."

It is California Ecoli lawyer and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, HUS attorney, Mr. Allis who will take the lead in prosecuting all E. coli and HUS litigation. Attorney Henke will accept only a secondary supporting role in the cases out of his great respect for Mr. Allis' specific experience in E Coli litigation.

Attorney Ray Henke is a nationally acclaimed medical malpractice and drug product lawyer. He has been recognized by his trial lawyer peers specifically for his accomplishments in complex drug product liability litigation, and indeed nominated "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association for his prosecution of one such body of drug litigation. Attorney Henke also received the "President's Award" from LATLA, subsequently renamed the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles..

California attorney Henke has received widespread recognition in the legitimate press specifically for his prosecution of important medical and pharmaceutical litigation, from the front page of the New York Times to the front page of the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and most other legitimate newspapers. California attorney Henke's cases have been chronicled also by the legitimate national and international television news media, again specifically for his participation in important medical and pharmaceutical litigation, e.g., Tom Brokaw's NBC Nightly News, CNN. Attorney Henke has testified before Congress about his drug cases and use of punitive damage claims to punish the drug manufacturers, at the invitation of the Chairman of the US House Judiciary Committee. With the nationally acclaimed pharmaceutical product liability law firm of Butler, Dan Allis & Reback, Mr. Henke was involved in Dalkon Shield, DES, Thalidomide, Bendectin and DPT litigation. Attorney Henke was also involved in the breast implant litigation and the asbestos litigation, and in prosecuting AIDS drug fraud litigation involving the drug Viroxan. Mr. Henke has also achieved important published appellate victories in medical and drug product litigation which may have application in E. Coli outbreak litigation, including a landmark published federal court of appeals class action opinion which defines the scope of permissible federal court mandatory class action.

Attorney Henke is a former Governor of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers Association (now the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles) the 5th largest trial lawyer bar in the United States. He also served for several years in the prestigious position as the Editor-in-Chief of the LATLA Advocate Law Journal.

California Attorney Henke is "AV" rated by Martindale and Hubbell, the "A" connoting "very high to preeminent" legal ability, and the "V"connoting "very high" ethical standards.

Attorney Henke has published over 30 articles in "Trial," "Forum," and "Advocate," the Journals of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Consumer Attorneys Association of California, and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles.

Mr. Henke obtained his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of San Francisco Law School in 1979, served on the USF Law Review and interned with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

Our California Ecoli Lawyers and HUS Attorneys Discuss The Symptoms and Diagnosis of E. coli Illness, The Potential Complications Including HUS and TTP and Patient Prognosis.

Escherichia coli, which we have referred to above by its common name E. coli or informally Ecoli, is a general class of common bacteria. There hundreds of strains of the E coli bacterium. E coli exists in the lower digestive tract of humans and all mammals. E coli indeed serve an essential purpose in digestion and the bacteria are indeed essential for our survival.

It is a particular strain of E coli which causes the toxin which can lead to human illness, and sometimes devastating diseases, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, leading to kidney failure, and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, which can also result in severe neurological side effects, including strokes

This deadly strain is called E. coli O157:H7. The letters and numbers distinguish it from other types of E coli, and refer to the strain's surface genetic markers.

There are many food products that can be infected with this deadly strain of E coli, including undercooked ground beef, salami, unpasteurized milk or juice, as well as vegetable products such as lettuce, sprouts, and as we saw here in the most recent large 2006 outbreak, spinach. E coli O157:H7 can sometimes also be contracted through human contact.

The most common symptoms of Ecoli O157:H7 infection are relatively mild and include hemorrhagic colitis, characterized by bloody stools, abdominal pain and severe cramps; in some cases fever may be present or it may not. Symptoms usually develop within 3 to 4 days of ingesting the contaminated food and resolve within 5 to 10 days.

Less commonly O157:H7 infection results in more severe syndromes and diseases including HUS, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, and TTP, Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) resulting from E. coli O157:H7 poisoning commonly occurs after bloody diarrhea and can cause acute renal failure. Many who suffer renal failure will require kidney dialysis treatment for life. Sometimes those who suffer HUS related acute renal failure will not survive.

Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (TTP) is similar to HUS except that those whose E. Coli infection results in TTP may also suffer neurological side effects, headaches, behavioral or mood changes, or in some cases strokes.

As An Example of The Ramifications of Negligent Food Processing Leading to an Ecoli Food Poisening Outbreak, Our California Ecoli Lawyers and TTP and HUS Attorneys Analyze The Characteristics of the 2006 E. coli Illness Outbreak and Resulting HUS and Other Illness from Ingestion of California Spinach.

The following information was obtained from the Centers for Disease Control on September 24, 2006, and unfortunately the numbers of those infected, whose diseases progress to more serious illness, and those who die may rise. While the illnesses occurred in August and early September, the reason the numbers may change is due mostly to delays in reporting the illnesses and then the necessity for the CDC to confirm that the illnesses were causally related toe the ingestion of the California spinach.

As of September 24, 2006, 173 persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7 had been reported to CDC from 25 states.

Among the ill persons, 92 (53%) were hospitalized, 28 (16%) developed hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), and an adult in Wisconsin died. One hundred twenty-five (72%) were female and 15 (9%) were children under 5 years old. The proportion of persons who developed HUS was 29% in children (<18 years old), 8% in persons 18 to 59 years old, and 16% in persons 60 years old or older. Among ill persons who provided the date when their illnesses began, 88% became ill between August 19 and September 5. The peak time when illnesses began was August 30 to September 1 -- 35% of persons with the outbreak strain became ill on one of those 3 days.

The CDC confirmed that the spinach responsible for this 2006 E Coli outbreak was grown in three California counties.

It was confirmed by the CDC that this August - September 2006 E. Coli outbreak resulting from exposure to contaminated spinach originated from spinach grown in three California counties, Monterey County, San Benito County and Santa Clara County. The CDC concluded that spinach grown outside those three counties was safe. The spinach grown in these California counties had been distributed throughout the United States and cases of E coli poisoning associated with this outbreak were discovered in 25 states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

On September 15, 2006, Natural Selection Foods, LLC, of San Juan Bautista, California, announced a voluntary recall of all products containing spinach in all brands they pack with "Best if Used by Dates" of August 17, 2006 through October 1, 2006. These products include spinach and any salad with spinach in a blend, both retail and food service products. Other secondary distributors followed suit and retailers then removed the products from the market shelves.

Our Food Poisening Outbreak Lawyers and Ecoli HUS Attorneys Will Consider Cases Involving E coli Illness HUS and TTP Arising in Alaska Alabama, Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts, Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania ,Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia and Wyoming.

Our Ecoli lawyers and HUS attorneys welcome the opportunity to serve as food poisening trial lawyers in E. coli outbreaks arising in any state of the United States. We have had substantial experience in leadership roles in "mass disaster" litigation, as it is referred to in the courts, including as attorneys involved in class action litigation and as lawyers opposing class action litigation. Indeed, attorney Henke was responsible for the enduring published landmark federal court decision defining the permissible scope of mandatory, as opposed to, voluntary class action. In one body of pharmaceutical litigation involving over 1000 birth defect cases joined in the Southern District of Ohio, the Federal Court Judge certified a mandatory class action purporting to bind all similar birth defect cases filed in state court's nationwide, and all other cases in which it was alleged or in the future would be alleged that a child was born with birth defects as the result of the drug. On the basis of that mandatory class certification, the "Plaintiff's lead counsel committee" and the attorneys for the defendant pharmaceutical company entered into a $120,000,000.00 settlement. Mr. Henke was an attorney for approximate 40 children with severe limb defects who had filed suit in the state of California. It was his judgment that the mandatory class action settlement, by virtue of the vast numbers of claimants with whom the settlement would have to be shared, would result in his clients obtaining individual settlements which would not pay even a fraction of their medical expenses. So in the name of just one of his clients, attorney Henke filed a petition for writ of mandamus in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He argued that the mandatory class certification deprived his single client of the right to his chosen attorney to represent him, meaning attorney Henke, not the Plaintiffs Lead Counsel Committee purporting to represent the certified mandatory class, and that the mandatory class certification denied his client of the right to control over his individual litigation. The Federal Court of Appeals accepted attorney Henke's argument and granted his petition for writ of mandamus, voided the $120,000,000.00 settlement, and ordered the Federal District Court Judge to decertify the mandatory class. The result was that the Federal District Court was limited to certifying a voluntary class action, in which the individual birth injured plaintiffs and their lawyers could elect to opt-out and pursue their individual litigation. The Federal Court of Appeals landmark published opinion granting Henke's petition for writ of mandamus remains as enduring federal case law severely restricting the availability of mandatory class action and preserving the rights of individual tort victims in mass litigation to chose to join voluntary class actions or chose to be represented by the attorney of their choice and retain control their individual litigation.

The association of California food poisoning lawyer, Nick Allis, who has participated both in many complex medical and drug liability class actions, with food and drug lawyer, Ray Henke, who has both participated in and resisted mandatory class actions, provides our Ecoli HUS and TTP clients much greater flexibility in determining whether to chose to take part in food poisoning class action or to insist upon their rights, preserved by the Federal Court decision Henke obtained, to control the course of their litigation through the strategies adopted by their chosen Ecoli food poisening attorneys. Because Mr. Allis in particular is also a very highly qualified and experienced trial lawyer with specific qualifications and experience in litigating Ecoli HUS cases, the client may be assured that he or she will not find that their attorney is merely food poisening class action tag-along counsel. Our Ecoli HUS attorneys are much better able to assess the qualities of the class action, the advantages and disadvantages of joining the class, and as the result better able to advise our Ecoli and HUS clients more accurately in terms of the best course of action which is in their individual best interest.

Our Ecoli lawyers and TTP and HUS Attorneys for Ecoli Outbreaks will be pleased to consider cases of E coli illness HUS or TTP arising in Alaska Alabama, Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts, Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania ,Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia and Wyoming.

As our Ecoli lawyers and HUS attorneys summarized in the discussion above with regard to the California spinach outbreak, contaminated spinach grown on farms in three small California counties and then distributed through a single primary distributor resulted in 173 cases of Ecoli illness, the hospitalization of 92, 28 with HUS across the nation, in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, a total of 25 states.

Smart strategic judgments must be made at the outset of the litigation by competent litigators who have an open mind in terms of where to file this type of litigation, both on a class basis and on an individual basis. There may be a number of jurisdictions in Ecoli outbreak litigation which would be appropriate to file litigation, each with its own advantages or disadvantages and the best decision may or may not be the jurisdiction in which the individual claimant resides. Individual Ecoli food poisening litigation against a corporate food manufacturer, for example, can be filed in the state in which the claimant consumed the Ecoli contaminated food and suffered his illness, or it can be filed in the state in which the food manufacturing company was incorporated, or, in the state in which the corporation maintains its "principle place of business." Some states may provide advantages law, other states may provide advantageous or disadvantageous juries. And these are factors which good national Ecoli lawyers and HUS attorneys consider, where other lawyers who practice only in their home states might not. To illustrate this concept with a short story, consider Penzoil Texaco Getty litigation. The underlying facts were basically that Getty had reached a "handshake" deal to sell its assets to Penzoil for a sum certain. Texaco then offered Getty a better deal, and Getty Oil was sold to Texaco. Penzoil's original lawyers filed suit, serving the complaint on Getty Oil in Delaware. Penzoil then fired its business lawyers and hired seasoned Texas trial lawyer, Joe Jamial. Joe Jamial considered that filing the case in Delaware rather than in Texas was a huge strategic mistake. His reasoning? He figured that Texas jurors would be much more likely to feel that a "handshake was a handshake" and a "handshake" meant a deal, whereas Delaware jurors would probably not credit a handshake in big business deals normally accomplished by written contracts. In a very bold move, Joe Jamail dismissed Getty out of the litigation, the primary defendant in case, and sued Texaco, which had not been served in the Delaware litigation, in Texas. The theory against Texaco was that it had interfered with the Penzoil/Getty handshake deal. The result was that Joe Jamail obtained an $11 Billion jury verdict, the largest jury verdict American History. The point of this story is that the choice of jurisdiction, meaning the choice of state in which to file the action, should be one that the client makes with the advice of an attorney who is able and willing to consider the advantages and disadvantages of litigating in the several states in which the litigation might properly be filed.

Our Ecoli and HUS lawyers have been extensively involved in complex mass litigation on a national level both in the prosecution of individual cases and class action cases. Our offices have served as lead counsel in mass pharmaceutical class actions, and we have served as attorneys for individual clients resisting national mass personal injury mandatory class actions, we have served as seasoned trial lawyers representing individual clients in litigation, we have served as trial counsel representing multiple clients in consolidated trials. We assess our choices of jurisdictions available to bring the litigation, and we advise our clients accordingly. We consider that in doing so we can best serve our California clients and best serve those who we represent nationally as Ecoli outbreak lawyers.

If you suffered HUS or TTP as the result of contaminated food which resulted in in an Ecoli outbreak, we welcome you to contact us to discuss the facts of your case, obtain our case evaluation, and our recommendations, including whether to join in class action litigation or not join and prosecute your case as an individual lawsuit, and our assessment as to the jurisdiction that we consider most advantageous. These choices are ultimately the individual client's choices to make, but we consider that we serve an important function in providing advice based on strategic considerations rather than biased by personal convenience. Our Ecoli food poisening outbreak attorneys and HUS lawyers will consider cases in which the potential client consumed the contaminated food and sustained his or her illness in Alaska Alabama, Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts, Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania ,Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia and Wyoming. We provide free consultations, meaning without any charge and without any obligation. We welcome the opportunity to discuss your Ecoli HUS or TTP case with you.

You may contact us by submitting the "E. coli Attorney Case Evaluation Request" and our lead Ecoli HUS lawyer, Nick Allis, will call you to discuss the facts or your Ecoli illness, your physicians prognoses in HUS and TPT cases, the facts pertaining to the food products which may have been the source of Ecoli contamination leading to your illness. He will offer his initial impressions and recommendations, and answer any questions you may have. Again, please feel welcomed to contact us, confident that our Ecoli case consultations are entirely free of charge.