How Can a Food Poisoning Attorney Help My Case?

Posted in Food Safety on April 14, 2023

While most cases of food poisoning are mild and resolve on their own, some can be severe and require medical attention. If you have been the victim of severe food poisoning, it is critical to contact a food poisoning attorney as soon as possible, and here is how they can help your case.

Investigation and Evidence Collection

When a food poisoning attorney takes on your case, they will immediately conduct a thorough investigation. That includes:

• Gathering Information: Details about what you ate, when, and when they started experiencing symptoms. They may also ask for medical records and any documentation related to the illness.
• Identifying the Pathogen: Your attorney will then try to identify the pathogen that caused the illness, which may involve sending samples of your stool or blood for testing to a laboratory.
• Contacting Public Health Authorities: Your attorney may contact public health authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or local health departments to report the outbreak, seek their assistance in the investigation, and check if there have been any reported illnesses in the area.
• Identifying the Source of Contamination: Your attorney will work to identify the source of the contamination, which can be a challenge. The source may be a restaurant, a grocery store, a food processing plant, a distributor, etc.
• Collecting Evidence: Your attorney will gather evidence to support the case. This may include food samples, invoices, receipts, and inspection reports. They may also interview witnesses and employees who were involved in the preparation or distribution of the contaminated food.

Once your attorney has gathered enough evidence, they will begin building the case. This may involve working with medical experts to establish a link between the pathogen and your illness and calculating your damages. Medical experts are expensive to hire but essential in food poisoning cases. They provide critical evidence and insights that can help directly link your illness and the contaminated food.

Negotiating a Settlement

Negotiating a settlement in a food poisoning case requires skill and experience. After evaluating your damages (e.g., medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering), estimating the value of your claim, and gathering evidence to support it, your attorney will draft a demand letter to send to the responsible party. The demand letter will include the amount of compensation that you are seeking and a detailed explanation of the damages suffered. Your lawyer will then engage in negotiations with the responsible party or their insurance company, which can go back and forth for some time. With their understanding of the tactics used by insurance companies, they will protect your rights and ensure you only settle for fair compensation.

Litigation

If the responsible party is unwilling to negotiate a settlement or your damages are substantial and the at-fault party will not pay fair compensation, you and your attorney may choose to file a lawsuit. If so, your attorney will argue your case before a judge or jury and fight for you to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Difference in Compensation

A food safety lawyer will generally be able to help you recover much more compensation than you would going through the claims process alone. Studies show that personal injury victims with representation often recover two to three times more, even after lawyer fees. In addition, most food poisoning attorneys take cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no legal fees unless you win.