Our lawyers have decades of experience advising leading companies in developing support for major advertising campaigns. Clients come to us with a variety of issues related to claims and risk prevention, as well as for our evaluation of competitive claims, including for our guidance on:
Testing standards, relevant statistics, and research methods. Our commitment and experience in the science of consumer-relevant testing and surveys is unrivaled. We work with the country’s leading experts in consumer research, sensory science, and economics and are regularly invited to teach these subjects at industry conferences and in-house seminars. We can help you formulate defensible advertising substantiation and determine weaknesses in your own (or a competitor’s) product testing. We have helped oversee some of the largest and most sophisticated consumer research projects ever conducted for legal purposes—tests that have been fielded under severe time pressures but which withstood scrutiny in later legal proceedings.
Advice on warranties and limitations of liability by contract. We regularly advise regarding the Magnuson-Moss Act and warranty requirements. We have rewritten warranty policies for major appliance makers, advised consumer products makers regarding how and when to present warranty information, and defended class actions alleging breaches of warranties. We advise regarding litigation risk, new product and distribution counseling, and supply chain management strategies.
Risk Prevention. We provide customized audits, trainings and workshops to partner with our clients in their efforts to identify, assess, and mitigate advertising-related risk in their businesses.
Representative Matters
- Provide advice to an American retailer with over 1,000 stores, on comparative advertising and pricing claims and counsel on proposed marketing strategies.
- Advise a major alcoholic beverage company on the labeling and related advertising claims for a variety of products in its portfolio, and provided advice on risk analysis of label and advertising claims for product lines that it was acquiring to broaden its product portfolio.
- Advise a software developer on a variety of marketing claims for its leading products, including claims substantiation, promotional risks, and competitive disputes.
- Provide an appliance manufacturer with advertising and claim counseling with respect to its large and small appliance brands.
- Advised a telecommunications company regarding advertising claims language and substantiation for new networks.
- Helped review and oversee taste testing for a major beer company, and later defended those tests upon legal challenge.
- On behalf of a famous online retailer of medical devices, we crafted a regulatory strategy that helped maintain its preeminent position while ensuring that lower-cost and potentially unsafe competition could not unfairly encroach.
- Reviewed an internet-based directory provider’s sales and marketing practices, developing a comprehensive set of recommendations for compliance with FTC best practices.
- Conducted comprehensive reviews of a personal care product maker’s product claims and portfolio, advising regarding substantiation and compliance requirements and best practices.