Winston & Strawn Named Food & Beverage Group of the Year by Law360

Winston & Strawn was recognized as Law360’s 2015 Food & Beverage Group of the Year. Winston secured a series of wins for industry leaders throughout the year and handled a number of significant transactions.

The publication highlights a series of suits that claimed Beam Suntory, a spirit manufacturer, falsely advertised its Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam brands as “handmade.” In May, a Florida federal judge tossed out a proposed class action with prejudice, ruling that the term’s literal meaning obviously cannot be applied to alcohol. Similarly, in July a California federal judge dismissed with prejudice another proposed class action that claimed Maker’s Mark drinkers were tricked by labeling claims. One month later, another California federal judge reached a similar conclusion.

“There was a concern that this was going to be a new area for the plaintiffs bar, but we haven’t really seen a lot of filings challenging [“handmade” label claims] since the cases were dismissed,” said Partner Amanda Groves, who led the litigation team. “It’s significant for our client, but also for the industry.”

Law360 also recognized the group for a number of other class actions related to alleged mislabeling, a multidistrict antitrust suit, and various significant transactions in the industry.

Learn more about the firm’s Food, Beverage & Agriculture Practice.

Read Law360’s Food & Beverage Group of the Year profile.