Insights

San Francisco – July 17, 2025: Crowell & Moring has added two experienced in-house counsel from Amazon to its Litigation Group, expanding the firm’s abilities to serve clients facing complex consumer product liability issues. Clay Marquez, former Senior Corporate Counsel for WW Stores at Amazon, and Meghan McMeel, former Senior Corporate Counsel for Devices at Amazon, join the firm as partners in San Francisco.

As microplastics begin making headlines and sparking scientific inquiry into the impacts of these pervasive particles, state legislators, regulators, and law enforcers—as well as private plaintiffs’ counsel—are taking action. In California, a bipartisan coalition of legislators passed AB 823, expanding the scope of an existing state ban on products containing plastic microbeads. Governor Newsom vetoed the bill, citing concerns that the ban would inadvertently slow the adoption of non-plastic alternatives.

After months of anticipation, the Senate has received a nomination for a Commissioner of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). 

On August 5, 2025, Royal Sovereign International Inc. (Royal Sovereign), a defunct New Jersey importer of portable air conditioners, pled guilty to one count of willfully violating the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) for its failure to report dangerous defects in portable air conditioners that had been linked to multiple fires and one death. The company also agreed to a civil settlement with the Department of Justice and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that included $395,786.48 in restitution to victims and a $16,025,000 civil penalty, which was suspended to $100,000 for inability to pay.