SEATTLE, Wash. (February 13, 2018) - Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that the firm’s Food & Beverage practice was named 2017 Food & Beverage Group of the Year by Law360. Only five nationally ranked law firms received this distinction.

In addition to this recognition, David Biderman, Chair of the firm's Food Litigation group, was named among Law360's 2017 Food & Beverage MVPs.

Perkins Coie’s Food & Beverage attorneys serve as general outside counsel for many food and beverage clients, counseling them on all aspects of their businesses and acting as their trusted advisors. The group just published its annual Food Litigation Year in Review, an overview of filings, key court decisions and regulatory developments in litigation affecting the food and beverage industry. The group also publishes a newsletter called Tasting Notes for executives in the food and beverage industry, featuring concise, easy to scan content focused on industry news, issues and trends.
In a quickly evolving sector that saw an increase in litigious activity and “food activism” last year, Perkins Coie successfully defended major food manufacturers and distributors such as General Mills and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in several lawsuits ranging from class actions to packaging and advertising regulation compliance.

Dori Brewer, Chair of Perkins Coie’s Food and Beverage group, is quoted in the profile saying, “I would say there have been more changes in the food industry in the last 10 years, maybe even the last five years than I could have ever anticipated. Will it at some point settle down? I'm not sure. There is a lot to keep up with.”

Among the winning cases that Law360 said led to the Group of the Year honors were:

• Chuang v. Mott’s, Inc.: Perkins Coie led the successful defense of Mott’s, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and General Mills in a putative California class action alleging that the labeling of Mott’s Fruit Flavored Snacks is misleading. The complaint alleged that the fruit snacks were “essentially candy” even though they were marketed as “fruit/vegetable-packed healthful snacks.” Judge Fitzgerald dismissed all claims against our clients.
• Nature Valley Glyphosate Litigation: The Perkins Coie team served as national coordinating counsel for General Mills in defending five putative nationwide class actions (C.D. Cal., N.D. Cal., D. Minn., E.D.N.Y., and D.D.C.) involving Nature Valley granola bars. Plaintiffs in those actions alleged that Nature Valley products cannot carry the claim “100% Natural Whole Grain Oats” because of the alleged presence of trace amounts of glyphosate—a widely used herbicide and desiccant, which is commonly sprayed on oat crops to dry them—in the products. Plaintiffs alleged levels of glyphosate that were orders of magnitude below those permitted by federal EPA regulations. In July, the court issued an order granting General Mills’ motion to dismiss this putative class action for violation of Minnesota’s Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act, Unlawful Trade Practices Act, and Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Illinois’ Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act, California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, False Advertising Law, and Unfair Competition Law, and New York’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices and False Advertising provisions of the General Business Law, breach of express warranty, and unjust enrichment. In granting the motion, the court held that plaintiffs had failed to plausibly allege that the statement “Made with 100% Natural Whole Grain Oats” means, or could be interpreted by a reasonable consumer to mean, that there is no trace glyphosate in Nature Valley products. The court further concluded that plaintiffs failed to state a claim because defendant did not represent or warrant that Nature Valley products would be free from trace glyphosate.
• Garrett v. Bumble Bee Foods, LLC: Perkins Coie won a California bench trial for Bumble Bee Foods in a lawsuit claiming that our client misled consumers about the health benefits of its tuna products by labeling them as an “excellent source” of omega-3 fatty acids and by not disclosing it had paid the American Heart Association for use of the organization’s logo on the labels. The suit, brought by plaintiffs seeking class-action certification, disgorgement, restitution, punitive damages, attorneys’ costs and injunctive relief, alleged that Bumble Bee Foods deceptively labeled its products starting in 2008 in violation of California’s unfair business and false advertising statutes and the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act. On March 30, 2017, in a decision following the five-day trial, the judge ruled for Bumble Bee Foods, agreeing with our trial team’s argument that Bumble Bee’s labels did not mislead or confuse potential consumers, any distinction between Bumble Bee’s labels and those expressly authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) were immaterial, and Bumble Bee produced evidence of independent lab testing that its tuna had at least as much Omega-3 fatty acids as set forth in the notification approved by the FDA. In finding that Bumble Bee’s labels were not unlawful or unfair, the court also determined that plaintiffs did not meet their burden of proving that the use of the American Heart Association logo was an undisclosed paid endorsement.
• Liguria Foods, Inc. v. Griffith Laboratories, Inc.: A litigation team from our Chicago office achieved a major victory in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa when a jury awarded Griffith Laboratories, Inc. a complete defense verdict after less than four hours of deliberation at the conclusion of a two-week jury trial before Judge Mark W. Bennett in Sioux City. Griffith faced a $20 million damage claim based on alleged breach of the implied warranty of merchantability and the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose brought by Liguria Foods, Inc., a dry sausage manufacturer located in Northern Iowa. Liguria alleged that Griffith improperly designed and mixed a seasoning that was used in Liguria’s most popular pepperoni product. The suit alleged that Griffith’s mishandling of antioxidants in the spice caused substantial volumes of Liguria’s pepperoni to sporadically spoil long before the end of its shelf life, resulting in the loss of customers, sales, and other damages.
• Soto v. Safeway: Perkins Coie defended Safeway pursuant to an indemnity agreement by two of its three suppliers against three class action complaints that alleged that Safeway canned tuna was “under filled” and “mislabeled” and did not have the amount of tuna meat required by a federal “standard of fill” regulation. The three putative class actions were consolidated by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in In re Safeway Tuna Cases. Rather than following the examples of StarKist and Wild Planet in stipulating to certification of a national class and settlement in nearly identical canned tuna class actions (StarKist $15.6 million, Wild Planet $2.5 million), in order to obtain immunity from future suits, the firm defended Safeway on the merits. The result was no class certification, no damages and stipulation for dismissal, and the defense of Safeway appears to have killed “canned tuna” class action lawsuits.
• Amicus Brief for Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA): Perkins Coie represents the GMA as amici in support of a petition for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, seeking review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decision in Briseno v. ConAgra Foods, Inc. The Briseno appeal raises an important issue of class certification law: whether putative plaintiffs must show that a class is “ascertainable” in order to support class certification. The Ninth Circuit’s Briseno opinion furthers a deep circuit split on this issue. The Supreme Court will likely consider the petition in fall 2017.

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