Advertising Litigation

We have a consistent record of success handling consumer class action cases in state and federal courts related to mislabeling, false advertising, “dark patterns,” product and service pricing, and privacy issues. We regularly handle claims brought under state consumer-protection acts, including California’s Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act; Florida’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act; Illinois’s Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act; New York’s Unfair or Deceptive Act; and Texas’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Our advertising litigators work closely with our Environmental Practice to defend companies against allegations of greenwashing and other environmental and ESG-disclosure claims, including those related to the potential environmental impact of substances such as microplastics. We have successfully resolved litigation involving biodegradable marketing claims, environmental claims cited on cleaning-supply labels, and a plethora of false-labeling claims involving the use of the terms “all natural” and “sustainable.” Our attorneys are thought leaders in this area and continue to track ESG and environmental advertising trends as they evolve.

Many of our clients engage in marketing activities using email, automated telephone dialing systems, text message marketing, artificial or prerecorded calls, or fax machines. In the United States, the CAN-SPAM Act and TCPA and related state laws impose strict requirements around how this marketing must be conducted. We help our clients build marketing programs that address and mitigate related risk. In addition, we counsel clients about interest-based advertising, mobile marketing, programmatic, and advertising matters. We have extensive knowledge of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Federal Trade Commission Act, the Digital Advertising Alliance’s Self-Regulatory Principles, and similar legal requirements and industry guidelines.

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We have deep experience counseling clients through all stages of a product recall and the ensuing class action and product liability litigation. Our clients routinely call upon us to advise them with respect to reporting, compliance, and penalty proceedings, and our attorneys have significant experience cooperating with and, when necessary, defending against, actions by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). We are keenly aware of the market sensitivities to, and business impacts of, product recalls and the proclivity for recalls to lead to class action and product liability litigation. With that in mind, we work with our clients to develop recall-process strategies early to minimize the effects of follow-on litigation. We then defend our clients in the follow-on class actions and product liability cases that invariably follow. With our comprehensive approach, we have successfully litigated these cases to complete victory and low-dollar settlements.

We have deep knowledge of the food and beverage industry, representing food and beverage producers, packaged food makers, branded consumer products, ingredient manufacturers, dietary supplement producers, wineries, breweries, distilleries, distributors, restaurant chains, bakeries, grocery stores, confectioneries, and franchisors worldwide. We routinely resolve consumer class action cases related to mislabelling, false advertising, and failure to properly disclose ingredients and additives.

Our experienced litigators have handled matters involving various nutritional and other claims (including the increasingly popular plaintiffs’ trend around heavy metals suits), “all-natural” labeling, slack-fill packaging, “handmade” and “handcrafted” labeling, country of and geographic origin, as well as litigation involving GMO foods, nutritional supplements, pet and animal feed, and high fructose corn syrup, among other products. 

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We have an extensive history of successfully representing retailers across the United States that find themselves under siege by consumer fraud claims or the target of attacks by competitors, often alleging claims of improper pricing, unfair competition, privacy, defamation, and other claims brought against retailers. Not only do we understand the complex legal issues involved, but our deep experience with the strategies of our opponents provides us with leverage to defend our clients against these claims successfully.

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