GavelLawBooksMainApproximately 20-30 percent of victims in foodborne illness outbreaks seek legal action against the companies whose products sickened them or their family members, according to an attorney quoted in a May 24 report by the Dallas Morning News. The newspaper interviewed a number of lawyers who specialize in foodborne illness litigation after a complaint was filed last week against Blue Bell Creameries in connection with the Listeria outbreak linked to its products. That lawsuit, brought by a 32-year-old man who lived in Houston, claims that he fell into a coma and suffered permanent brain damage in the fall of 2013 after eating Blue Bell ice cream. In the 2011 Jensen Farms cantaloupe Listeria outbreak, 66 of the 147 victims filed lawsuits against the company. Fifty of those 66 were represented by food safety law firm Marler Clark, which underwrites Food Safety News. A settlement was reached in February of this year.