Find Lawyers in America for Food and Beverage Law
Practice Area Overview
FDA conducts its regulatory activities primarily under the authority established in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). The FD&C Act establishes two primary categories of food: (1) dietary supplements and (2) conventional food, which covers all food that is not marketed as a dietary supplement. The FD&C Act specifies the mandatory information that must appear on all food labels. It also requires that all food and food ingredients be safe for consumption.
To implement the FD&C Act, FDA relies on both its own field staff throughout the country and also state and local food officials. FDA can take formal court enforcement action (seizure, injunction, and criminal prosecution) through the Department of Justice, and informal administrative action (e.g., warning letters and requests for recall or detention) without court action. Individuals and companies can bring lawsuits in federal and state courts alleging that they have suffered damage from action that they believe violates the FD&C Act, but there is no direct private cause of action under the FD&C Act.
Lawyers with specialized knowledge and experience in food law are involved in advising companies and individuals, as well as in litigation, on every facet of the food industry. They help companies comply with complex labeling requirements and the safety standards that apply both to ingredients and to finished food products. When issues arise, lawyers work with company officials to meet with the appropriate federal and state regulatory personnel and prepare responses to agency questions. They help trade associations and companies draft comments on proposed new regulations or guidance, as well as on legislative testimony on federal and state bills that would amend existing food laws or otherwise affect the food industry. Because of their recognized expertise and experience on food industry issues, they are relied upon as valued members of the industry.
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Jeff Brenner is a trial lawyer who represents clients in complex business disputes in federal and state courts in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, arbitrations, mediations and before regulatory agencies. Jeff concentrates his practice on construction and real estate disputes, and he leads the firm’s Real Estate Litigation team and Construction group. What do you focus on? I help people and businesses that have disputes requiring litigation. I focus on construction and complex real estate...
Ricardo Carvajal works with manufacturers and marketers of food and dietary supplements, OTC drugs, and cosmetics on a range of FDA, USDA, and FTC regulatory issues. Mr. Carvajal advises clients ranging from start-ups to multinational companies at all points in the supply chain, including bulk ingredient manufacturers, distributors of packaged goods, and retailers. He counsels clients on the regulatory status of ingredients and finished products, and provides advice on compliance with labelin...
Janet Garetto is a partner in the IP group. Her practice spans the firm’s Trademarks & Copyrights, Patents and IP Litigation practice groups. Janet counsels clients on IP issues facing their brands. In addition, she counsels clients on patent protection and litigation prevention issues with a focus on chemical and mechanical technologies. Janet also serves as the Managing Partner of Nixon Peabody’s Chicago office. What do you focus on? I focus my practice on three main areas, ...
Drew Phillips is a commercial litigator whose practice focuses on defending clients in class actions and multidistrict litigation. His Fortune 500 clients come to him for defense and counsel on a wide range of issues, from product recalls in the food and beverage and manufacturing industries to putative class action litigation in a variety of contexts. Drew has extensive courtroom experience, ranging from dispositive motions hearings, class certification hearings, bench trials, and lengthy pr...
Michael B. Newman is head of the firm’s Alcohol Beverage Team, focusing on counseling industry clients on national and international regulatory, contract, legislative, and licensing matters, advertising and promotional law, intellectual property rights, importation matters, trade practices, and inter-tier relations. He represents clients on matters before the federal Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau, the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and State Board of ...
Justin J. Prochnow assists companies with regulatory, business, and legal needs in the beverage, food, dietary supplement, cosmetic, medical device, and OTC industries. Justin works closely with companies to ensure regulatory compliance with statutes and regulations enforced by the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission and other regulatory agencies. This includes the review of product labels, labeling, advertising, websites and other marketing materials. Justin assists co...
Jeff Rosenfeld brings clients three decades of experience handling complex commercial litigation and understands how costly such disputes can be to a company’s bottom line. He is adept and experienced at preemptively ending expensive disputes by negotiating favorable settlements before litigation and by securing early dismissal. Jeff, partner-in-charge of Alston & Bird’s Los Angeles office, focuses his practice on trial and appellate litigation, with an emphasis on class actio...
Charlie Smarr practices primarily in the areas of alcohol beverage law and liquor licensing. He is a former supervisor of the Missouri Division of Liquor Control, Assistant Attorney General of Missouri and past president of the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators. His practice with the firm primarily involves representing interests of members of the alcohol beverage industry by providing corporate, administrative, licensing and regulatory legal services. He is general counsel f...
Angela Spivey provides defense and counsel for food manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and packaging entities in a host of legal and regulatory compliance issues. She has extensive experience defending clients in consumer class action labeling cases, implementing product recalls, and defending widespread international outbreaks and resulting civil litigation. Angela also defends corporations and individuals in FDA criminal investigations. In addition to consulting with food industry clie...
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