Crowell & Moring Advertising & Product Risk Management Annual Seminar to Feature Industry Leaders and Key Government Officials

Washington, D.C. – March 11, 2013: Crowell & Moring LLP is pleased to invite members of the media and industry to attend its second annual one-day seminar, "Staying Afloat When Your Brand Is Under Pressure: How to Avoid, Mitigate, and Manage Product Crises," on March 19, 2013, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the firm's offices in Washington, D.C. With an increased need for companies to understand the ways to reduce or eliminate the risk of a crisis throughout their products and services lifecycles, the event panelists will discuss their approaches to minimizing business exposure to adverse events such as product defects, regulatory agency investigations and enforcement actions, port seizures, false advertising, and class action litigation.

The morning keynote address will be delivered by Ray Dempsey, vice president of Government and Public Affairs at BP America.

A series of panels throughout the day will address innovation and litigation risk mitigation; mass tort litigation; cross-border agency reporting and other border control matters; product recall crisis issues; social media and advertising; crisis public relations; and managing government investigations and enforcement actions.

Speakers will include in-house counsel and executives from industry-leading corporations, government officials, as well as Crowell & Moring lawyers whose practices focus on regulatory, advertising, litigation, and international trade.

Outside speakers will include:

• Kate Childress, North American marketing communications manager, Crop Protection, DuPont
• Richard Cleland, assistant director, Division of Advertising Practices, Federal Trade Commission
• Anthony Cooke, assistant general counsel of Product and Regulatory Affairs, Volkswagen Group of America
• Steve Edwards, senior recall strategist, Stericycle
• Andrew Frank, founder and president, Karv Communications
• Dr. Jason Hertzberg, corporate vice president, practice director & principal engineer, Exponent, Inc.
• Laura Beth Taylor, senior counsel, Chemicals &  Fluoroproducts, DuPont
• Svetlana Walker, Corporate Counsel, The Clorox Company
• Scott Wolfson, director, Office of Communications, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

"More than ever, government regulation and enforcement  trigger follow-on litigation by competitors, shareholders, and consumers. Businesses desperately need fresh thinking about how to manage these risks, which are made worse by an overheated political and legal environment. Our conference is a unique gathering of legal and communications experts from both government and private industry, who will share ideas and provide practical advice about reducing legal and reputational exposure in these unsettled times," said Crowell & Moring partner Christopher A. Cole, co-chair of the firm's Advertising & Product Risk Management Group.

To view the full agenda and register for the event, click here.  

Crowell & Moring LLP is an international law firm with approximately 500 lawyers representing clients in litigation and arbitration, regulatory, and transactional matters. The firm is internationally recognized for its representation of Fortune 500 companies in high-stakes litigation, as well as its ongoing commitment to pro bono service and diversity. The firm has offices in Washington, DC, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orange County, Anchorage, London, and Brussels.