Food and Consumer Products
Our Food and Consumer Products Practice, composed of lawyers in the Firm and affiliated specialty Counsel, brings detailed legal expertise and experience to the practical management of legal issues faced by companies involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of food products and consumer packaged goods. In the context of in-house counseling, negotiation of business arrangements, management of regulatory issues, or defense of litigation, our team understands the needs of companies in this area, and brings a commitment to cost-effective and prompt legal assistance to make certain that your product plans are not derailed by legal issues.
We have diverse backgrounds as in-house and outside counsel to major corporations, as well as extensive courtroom and regulatory agency experience. Our counsel regularly serve as teachers to other attorneys in this area at continuing legal education programs across the country, and have published numerous books and articles in the area. Our team has worked with all of the issues facing Food and CPG companies, including advertising, distribution, marketing, product regulation, sales, and commercial and consumer litigation.
Our experience includes:
Advertising and Labeling. Counseling on compliance with advertising and labeling laws; assisting in development of accepted standards for environmental claims on products; ensuring compliance with children’s advertising rules; counseling on funding for cooperative advertising programs.
Distribution and Sales. Drafting distribution or brokerage agreements, advising on compliance with state franchise and broker laws; advising on termination of distributors or brokers; dealing with bootlegging and counterfeiting of products; establishing exclusive dealing and distribution arrangements; negotiating import and export quotas.
Marketing, Merchandising, and Promotion. Helping to develop campaigns to provide sampling of products; counseling on rules for establishing trade promotion programs; establishing coupon redemption programs; ensuring compliance with rules governing sweepstakes and other games of chance; counseling on public relations.
Regulation and Food Safety. Advising on good manufacturing practices; assisting with product recalls; establishment of crisis management teams to ensure recall readiness; drafting and negotiating regulations and statutory language; developing training programs for employees; drafting food safety policies.
Compliance, Risk Prevention and Safety Standards Review. We have conducted risk management analyses and provided practical advice for limiting or eliminating safety risks across a range of products, taking account of federal, international and other applicable safety standards. Our Team Members have worked with many different products regulated by the FDA, EPA, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Product Safety Commission. Our goal is to minimize or eliminate product safety issues. We also work with clients to address obstacles encountered in meeting standards or compliance with new safety regulations and laws.
Testing, Inspection and Certification Requirements. We have worked with testing, inspection and certification organizations in the U.S. and abroad. Manufacturers who are encountering difficulties with the certification process may benefit from the professional representation we can provide. We are knowledgeable about the legal framework for developing and applying scientific and technical standards to manufactured goods, raw materials, chemicals and other sophisticated products.
Quality Programs. Across a range of products, we have counseled clients on standards and regulations that frame quality assurance and quality control programs, typically in the context of an emerging product safety or liability issue. We work with clients and team with consultants on an as-needed basis to address the existing issues and develop potential solutions from a seasoned legal perspective.
Product Liability Defense. We are well known for our experience in defending product litigation, at the national and regional levels. Our experience spans the range of product matters including personal injury, consumer fraud, class action defense, warranty, and other related cases. Two of our lawyers are former chairs of the American Bar Association Products Liability Committee (Section of Litigation). Lawyers in the Firm have authored numerous articles, edited monographs, and are currently editing a book on law, strategies and best practices in product litigation.