March 5, 2015 – Greenberg Traurig Shareholders Robert J. Herrington, Patricia A. Leonard and Justin J. Prochnow will discuss strategies for handling food labeling class action litigation during a panel discussion at the Natural Products Expo West.
The Exhibitor Education Session, “Labeling Litigation: Strategies for Marketing Products While Avoiding the Courtroom,” hosted by Greenberg Traurig, will take place Saturday, March 7, in Anaheim, California. Herrington, Leonard and Prochnow will provide strategies for companies based on their experience defending such claims.
The session will discuss:
Top claims being targeted with class action lawsuits, such as the rise in claims over the use of the terms “all natural” or “healthy,” nutrient content claims, weight loss claims and general false/unsubstantiated claims
Claims where companies face the biggest potential risk
What a company should do if it gets a letter from a plaintiff’s lawyer – pre-litigation negotiation
At Greenberg Traurig, Herrington, a Shareholder in the Los Angeles office, serves as Co-Chair of the firm's Products Liability & Mass Torts Practice. Herrington focuses his practice on defending consumer products companies in complex, multi-party litigation, including class actions, government enforcement litigation, product defect litigation and mass torts.
Leonard, a Shareholder in the firm’s West Palm Beach Litigation Practice, focuses her practice on complex business and commercial litigation matters in state and federal courts, and in arbitration. Her broad experience includes matters involving breach of contract, employment discrimination defense, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical litigation, and food labeling litigation.
Prochnow, a Shareholder in the Denver Litigation Practice, concentrates his practice on regulatory and business issues primarily in the food, medical device, drug and cosmetic industries. Prochnow works with dietary supplement, sports nutrition, beverage, conventional food, cosmetic, medical device and over the counter drug companies to ensure regulatory compliance with statutes and regulations enforced by the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission and other regulatory agencies. Prochnow will also moderate the panel discussion, “Defining ‘Natural’: Who gets to decide?” on Thursday, March 5.
About Greenberg Traurig’s Food & Beverage Group
Greenberg Traurig’s Food & Beverage Group, led by Shareholders Rick Shackelford, Robert Herrington and Justin Prochnow, offers a multidisciplinary team with significant experience in the food and beverage industry. This includes advising clients on US and International issues relating to: corporate product development; product labeling; promotions and advertising; federal consumer class actions; the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); food safety and recall issues; commercial contracts and distribution contracts; intellectual property issues including brand protection and management, patent and trademark disputes; competitor false advertising (Lanham Act) claims; regulatory and legislative issues; tax issues; and consumer class actions brought under various states’ consumer protection laws, including litigious and challenging jurisdictions, like California with its unfair competition law (UCL) false advertising law (FAL) and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA) and Florida with its uniform deceptive trade practices act (FDUTPA). Our team also has experience in state regulatory work.