Bill Marler travels to Omaha, Nebraska to speak at the Food Safety Council Meeting

Denis Stearns travels to the Institute of Food Technologies (IFT) Annual Meeting and Expo in New Orleans, LA.  His presentation will be “Food Safety Priorities and Risk for the Consumer: A Consumer Perspective”.

Drew Falkenstein travels to Florence, Alabama, to present to the AEHA.  His presentation is titled “You Break it, You Bought it: Incentivising Food Safety by Making Restaurants Reimburse Outbreak Costs.”

Bill Marler will be in Cardiff, Wales presenting to the Food Network Wales Conference.

Bill Marler travels to London to to take part in the Inaugural Lecture series of the British Food Journal (BFJ) at the Royal Institute of Public Health.

Bruce Clark travels to Monterey, CA to participate in the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association (IAMA) World Forum and Symposium.

Denis Stearns will present at the Association of Food and Drug Officials’ annual conference, to be held in Anaheim, California. His presentation is titled “Deja Vu, Bad Beef Back on the Table”. 

Bill Marler will give the keynote address, in Moscow, ID presenting an Update on Outbreak Trends 2006-2008.

Denis Stearns will participate in the Institute of Supply Management’s Spring Hospitality conference in Chicago, Illinois. 

Patti Waller travels to Montgomery, Alabama to present “Distinguishing Legitimate Food Borne Illness Claims from Illegitimate Claims”.

Drew Falkenstein will travel to Portland, Maine, to present at the NEFDOA Annual Conference on the topic of “Food Borne Illness Liability and Litigation”.

Denis Stearns travels to Portland, OR to present “Legal Liability for Food Related Outbreaks: Law, History, and Lessons Learned”.

Patti Waller will travel to Saratoga Springs, New York, for the Central Atlantic States Food and Drug Officials meeting. 

Bill Marler will speak at the University of Minnesota College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences on Food Safety and Litigation.

Denis Stearns presents to the Third International Symposium on Agro-terrorism, sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Kansas City, MO.

Marler Clark managing partner Bill Marler moderated, and partner Denis Stearns presented at the Seattle University School of Law’s conference, Who’s Minding the Store - The Current State of Food Safety and How It Can Be Improved. Marler Clark co-sponsored the event. 

Few subjects draw more immediate attention or concern than the safety of the food we eat. Recent years have included a plethora of food warnings and recalls, raising new questions about the quality and integrity of our existing system for assuring food safety. In addition to explaining how our present system works, this program is intended to discuss how changing consumer preferences are affecting the development and distribution of food, examine whether Federal, state and industry oversight roles are changing, and discuss how the regulatory and judicial processes can be most efficiently balanced. Participants include national and local representatives of government, the food industry, consumer organizations and scientists. In addition, the conference brings together international experts, rarely gathered on the same stage for a discussion of food safety in the global marketplace. Fifteen years ago, Seattle was the epicenter of the Jack in the Box E.coli outbreak that sickened six hundred people and killed four. By raising awareness, sharing information, and promoting communication, this conference will benefit both food safety professionals and consumers.

Denis Stearns participated in the 2008 Food Safety and Security Summit, held in Washington, DC during a session titled, “Issues/Insights for Microbial Challenge Studies.”

Bill Marler traveled to Monterey, California, to participate in a panel discussion on food safety with Dr. Robert Brackett, Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA: Joe Pezzini, Vice Prsident of Operations, Ocean Mist Farms, and Chairman of the Board of Directors, California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement; and Dr. Trevor Suslow, Affiliate Scientist, Western Institute for Food Safety and Security, and Cooperative Extension specialist, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis. 

Bill Marler and Patti Waller were in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the American Conference Institute’s National Forum on Food-Borne Illness Litigation. Bill participated in two conference sessions - “Current and Emerging Food Contamination Litigation: Trends, New Risks and Recent Decisions” and “Trying and Settling Single-Plaintiff Food-Borne Illness Cases”. Patti participated in a session titled, “Obtaining Medical Records, Public Health Documents, and Other Key Information”. 

University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR), University of Hawaii Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), Hawaii Food Manufacturers Association (HFMA) and De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines (DLSU)

Drew Falkenstein attended an international conference entitled, “Go Global: Food Processing and Safety” in Waikiki, Hawai’i. He gave a presentation titled, “Food Safety and Politics in Food--A Global Perspective.”

Dave Babcock presented at the 2008 Southern Region Small Fruit Consortium Conference held in Savannah, Georgia. His speech was titled, “PROFITING FROM UNSAFE FOOD: The Economics, Law, and Politics of Foodborne Illness Litigation.”