Marler Clark

What Marler Clark does

Marler Clark is a Seattle-based plaintiff-side law firm, founded in 1993 by managing partner Bill Marler, that specializes exclusively in foodborne illness litigation. The firm represents individual victims and families against food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in cases stemming from outbreaks of E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Botulism, Norovirus, Hepatitis A, and other pathogens. Over its 32-year history the firm has been involved in virtually every major U.S. foodborne outbreak, including the landmark 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli case (settled for $15.6 million on behalf of Brianne Kiner), and has accumulated over $850 million in total client settlements. The firm operates under a professional corporation structure (Marler Clark, Inc., PS) governed by Washington State law, with its principal office at 1012 First Avenue, Seattle, and a contact address in Bainbridge Island, WA.

The firm's core product is contingency-fee legal representation: clients incur no upfront cost and the firm earns a percentage of settlement or jury verdict recovery, with a free initial case evaluation. Distribution is direct-to-consumer through the firm's website (marlerclark.com), toll-free phone lines (1-800-884-9840 and 1-866-768-6846), and a national footprint supported by local co-counsel relationships in jurisdictions where the firm is not directly admitted. Beyond legal services, Marler Clark operates a content ecosystem including Food Safety News, Food Poison Journal, the Outbreak Database, Fair Safety, and the Marler Blog Network, functioning simultaneously as SEO-driven lead generation and proprietary case-history infrastructure.

Customer acquisition is primarily inbound, driven by Bill Marler's personal public profile — including his feature role in the Netflix documentary "Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food" — and sustained earned media coverage in The Atlantic, Reuters, Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, and Los Angeles Times. Each client engagement is episodic and tied to a discrete outbreak event rather than a recurring contract, with the firm representing thousands of individual victims cumulatively across its lifespan. Reported geographic restrictions in 11 US states are mitigated through local counsel partnerships in California, Arizona, Mississippi, and elsewhere.

Name

Marler Clark

Legal name

Marler Clark, Inc., PS

Website

https://marlerclark.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Marler Clark is a Seattle-based plaintiff-side law firm founded in 1993 that exclusively represents individual victims and families in foodborne illness litigation against food companies on a contingency fee basis, having recovered over $850 million in cumulative client settlements across major U.S. outbreaks.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Injury Law (Food Safety Litigation)

NAICS

Legal Services (5411)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAHAAAB

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Business & Public Services/Professional Services (Legal, Accounting, Consulting)/Legal Services

Keywords

• Foodborne illness litigation
• Food safety law
• Personal injury law
• Plaintiff-side representation
• Food poisoning lawsuits

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Contingency Fee Legal Representation: Marler Clark operates on a contingency fee basis for food safety litigation. The firm does not charge for initial consultations. If a case is accepted, the firm charges a percentage fee based upon the recovery obtained by settlement or jury verdict. No upfront costs to clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Marler Clark provides plaintiff-side legal representation to individuals and families harmed by foodborne illness outbreaks, including E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Botulism, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, and related pathogens. Services are delivered on a contingency fee basis with free initial case evaluation, and include outbreak traceback investigation, identification of responsible parties across the food supply chain, and pursuit of damages via settlement or jury verdict against food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

Product overview

Marler Clark is a food safety law firm offering legal representation services for victims of foodborne illness outbreaks. The firm operates several related informational resources including the Outbreak Database (outbreakdatabase.com), Food Safety News (foodsafetynews.com), Food Poison Journal (foodpoisonjournal.com), Fair Safety (fair-safety.com), and Bill Marler's personal website (billmarler.com). The core offering is legal services specializing in food safety litigation, not a technology product or SaaS platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Foodborne Illness Legal Representation Contingency-fee plaintiff-side legal representation for individuals and families who have suffered foodborne illness (E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, Botulism, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, Cyclospora, Shigella, Campylobacter) from contaminated food products, including outbreak traceback, identification of responsible parties across the supply chain, and pursuit of damages via settlement or jury verdict against food manufacturers, distributors, and retailers.

Quantifiable outcome

• $850 million+ in settlements to clients
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Quirk Law Firm LLPminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal counsel partnership for California-based litigation. Trevor Quirk of Quirk Law Firm LLP (Ventura, California) co-represents clients with Marler Clark in cases such as the Kebab Shop E. coli outbreak lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.
• O'Steen, MacLeod & Combs PLCminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCo-counsel relationship for Arizona jurisdiction cases. O'Steen, MacLeod & Combs PLC of Phoenix, Arizona co-represented the Dexter family with Marler Clark in the ByHeart infant formula botulism case.
• Langston & Lott, PLLCminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLocal counsel for Mississippi litigation. Casey Langston Lott of Langston & Lott (Jackson/Bonneville, Mississippi) serves as lead attorney with Marler Clark as pro hac vice counsel in the Bedner Farm Salmonella cucumber outbreak lawsuit.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Ron Simon & Associates: A prominent plaintiff-side food poisoning law firm representing victims of E. coli, Salmonella, Listeria, and other foodborne illness outbreaks. Directly competes with Marler Clark on the same contingency-fee model and similar outbreak cases.
• Pritzker Hageman: A food safety and foodborne illness plaintiff litigation firm based in Minnesota that competes head-to-head with Marler Clark for outbreak victim representation across major US food contamination cases.
• Sauder Schelkopf: A plaintiff firm with an active food poisoning and foodborne illness practice that has handled Salmonella, E. coli, and other outbreak cases, competing with Marler Clark for victim clients on a contingency basis.
• Wright Schulte: A plaintiff litigation firm with significant foodborne illness practice representing victims of outbreaks, providing a directly comparable contingency-fee competitor focused on food safety cases.

Broad incumbents

• Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein: A large national plaintiff firm with an active foodborne illness and mass tort practice. While broader than Marler Clark in scope, it competes for lead plaintiff roles in major outbreak class actions.
• Beasley Allen: A major plaintiff mass tort firm that handles food safety and product liability cases among many other practice areas. Represents a broader-incumbent peer with overlapping foodborne illness work.
• Simmons Hanly Conroy: A national plaintiff law firm with mass tort, class action, and product liability practice areas that overlap with foodborne illness litigation, competing for similar defendant targets and case inventory.
• Berger Montague: A national complex litigation and class action plaintiff firm that has handled food contamination and consumer protection cases, providing broader-incumbent competition for major outbreak matters.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/billmarler
• Facebookfacebook.com/MarlerClark-LLP-PS-505898802829421

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Marler Clark