| The number of people who fall ill with Legionnaires’ disease in the United States is soaring, up 33 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year. In tandem with the rising disease burden is a corresponding increase in the number of lawsuits, according to lawyers involved in these cases. Most legal actions are civil lawsuits against building owners or their maintenance contractors for negligence or failure to protect guests on their property, a personal injury claim akin to a slip-and-fall case, lawyers say. But criminal charges against Michigan health officials in the wake of 12 deaths in Flint linked to Legionnaires’ disease awakened the public health community to the legal risks of inaction against a disease that was first identified four decades ago but has grown in prominence only in the last few years. The involuntary manslaughter charges were dropped this summer by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, but the shock has not worn off. | 
