Our attorneys regularly advise consumer products companies across industries, from food and beverage, to supplements, cannabis, pet products, personal care and technology. In the most sophisticated litigation, from class actions and mass torts to individual cases, we assist our clients in matters that could expose them to product liability claims and brand-damaging lawsuits.

Perkins Coie has developed the country’s leading consumer class action defense teams in food and consumer goods, technology and privacy, representing clients in opposing class action complaints in hundreds of cases in the last several years.

With over 1,000 toxic tort cases pending in state and federal courts in California, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Utah, our attorneys handle litigation claims involving product recalls and product liability exposure. These cases entail ongoing trial activity at various levels for several trials set each month.

Our highly experienced and well-coordinated team has handled thousands of asbestos toxic tort cases for a range of clients, including Fortune 500 companies within the consumer products industry.

Filing data from the past 10 years confirms that the food and beverage industry has become an increasing target of the plaintiffs’ class action bar. During that time, our Food Litigation practice has developed deep knowledge in this area, securing pathbreaking decisions on federal preemption, Article III standing, the “reasonable consumer” defense, primary jurisdiction and damages defenses.

This work is our backbone. As product labeling, packaging, advertising, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and consumer fraud have drawn heightened attention, the industry’s biggest names have turned to Perkins Coie to defend and protect their flagship brands from class actions and individual lawsuits.

With increased focus on consumer packaged goods, our litigators have prevailed for clients in numerous labeling and slack-fill matters as well as cases involving false marketing and advertising claims. We deploy decisive measures that reduce our clients’ liability and, when feasible, shut down litigation quickly and cost-effectively.

We have moved the law in food and beverage litigation. Perkins Coie’s successful work has resulted in landmark decisions. Our attorneys served as lead defense counsel in Turek v. General Mills, the first published federal appellate decision on the scope of Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) preemption. Turek, decided in 2010 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, has been cited by federal courts nationwide nearly 60 times.

In 2018, we obtained the first favorable food-related Proposition 65 preemption decision by a California appellate court in Post Foods LLC et al. v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County et al. In this matter, the court of appeals entered summary judgment in our clients’ favor based on the federal government’s longstanding support for consumption of whole grain cereals as healthy. And in the years in between these two defining cases, our food litigation attorneys have secured dozens of favorable rulings and outcomes for clients in courts nationwide.

Our counsel is backed by data. At Perkins Coie, we developed a proprietary database that tracks and details industry-specific case filings and trends, informing our ability to counsel clients on risk. Every year we publish a Food Litigation Year in Review, highlighting the trends of the prior year. We also regularly post real-time case updates and conduct trend analyses on our Food Litigation News blog as well as our broader Consumer Protection Review blog.

Law360 recognized our practice as “Food & Beverage Practice Group of the Year” in 2017.

More about our Food Litigation practice can be found here.

Perkins Coie litigators handle Proposition 65 matters for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and others, across many industries.

The food and beverage industry has seen a steady increase in the number of Proposition 65 pre-litigation over the last seven years. In 2018 alone, plaintiffs served more than 530 pre-litigation notices regarding food and beverage products. Our litigators monitor Proposition 65 filings daily to stay abreast of emerging trends and we track regulatory developments as changes occur.

We regularly defend the companies behind all types of food products, including chips and snacks, coffees, cacao products, baked goods, seafood products, baking mixes, bars and cereals in Proposition 65 matters. Our counsel focuses on managing risk and defending claims for virtually all toxins that are allegedly found in food products, including arsenic, cadmium, acrylamide, bisphenol A (BPA) and lead.

More about our Proposition 65 practice can be found here.

Our Consumer Lending practice handles all litigation on behalf of consumer finance companies, including addressing demands, defending lawsuits and handling government investigations.

We understand that our clients rely on top-notch legal teams to manage much more than their litigation matters. They also expect legal services to be delivered as part of a comprehensive solution to the challenges posed by the economic and regulatory environment, competitive pressures and the need to contain costs without compromising quality or results.

The Perkins Coie team includes former in-house counsel, government enforcement attorneys, and experienced consumer rights and regulatory litigators. These seasoned attorneys provide sophisticated, practical solutions to the issues faced by consumer finance companies. Sensitive to budget, we offer a full range of cost-effective and creatively priced legal services.

For small individual-borrower claims, we have a dedicated team that effectively and efficiently handles these matters, often with fixed-fee or other value-added billing arrangements.

When the matters are more complex, we bring to bear the full strength of our experienced class action attorneys. They manage consumer class actions and regulatory issues, putting our clients’ objectives first—whether those are to succeed at trial or to adroitly sidestep potentially devastating litigation with uncapped exposure or zealous regulators.

When defending consumer claims or addressing agency investigations, our significant experience in dealing with the laws and agencies regulating consumer lending enables us to avoid a learning curve. As the situation requires, we also are able to handle litigation related to employment and other human capital litigation, mortgage repurchase litigation, general business, trademark and other civil matters.

More about our Consumer Lending practice can be found here.