Remembering IJ Client Trisha Eck

Every IJ attorney has had a moment when they have said, “We have to take this case.” For my colleague Larry Salzman and me, one such moment came when we met Trisha Eck and her husband Tom. Readers met Trisha last April when she teamed up with IJ to challenge Georgia’s ban on non-dentist teeth whitening. It is with great sadness that we must report that Trisha passed away on November 3, 2014.

Trisha was the embodiment of a great IJ client. Even though the government had wrongfully shut down her teeth-whitening business, she was never angry. She simply wanted what she was entitled to as an American—the right to earn an honest living—a goal that she pursued with dedication and good cheer. She was a fellow “happy warrior.”

Despite this sad news, Trisha’s fight is not over. IJ has filed a new lawsuit challenging Georgia’s dental monopoly on teeth whitening on behalf of Christina Collins, a teeth-whitening entrepreneur from Savannah, Ga. Like Trisha, Christina was recently ordered to shut down her successful business for selling the same over-the-counter products that countless Americans use every day. We will keep Liberty & Law readers up to date as Trisha’s and Christina’s fight continues.