Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Class Actions and Mass Torts

Counsel - Litigation and Investigations

Merrit Jones is an experienced commercial litigator who provides litigation defense and compliance counseling in a broad range of legal matters, including defense of consumer false advertising class actions, consumer product regulatory compliance and liability, consumer privacy and data security, intellectual property, the ADA and website accessibility, California Proposition 65, advertising and marketing laws and guidelines, e-commerce and website compliance, and contract matters. Merrit is the editor of BCLP’s Retail Law blog.

Consumer Products: Act as in-house outside counsel for a national retailer, including holding office hours to provide them a wide range of consumer product regulatory, advertising, and product safety matters.  Advise and defend clients in a variety of product liability and regulatory compliance matters, including compliance with federal laws and regulations enforced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, Customs and Border Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency, and state laws and regulations.  Advised clients on packaging and labeling requirements, including compliance with the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, country of origin labeling, labeling of clothing and textiles, “Made in U.S.A.” regulations, and state laws concerning toxics in packaging and products.

Food Products: Assisted food manufacturers and retailers in complying with food product safety standards, including the Food Drug & Cosmetic Act, the Food Safety Modernization Act, and in particular the Food Safety Verification Program.  Advised manufacturers and retailers on product packaging and labeling requirements, including compliance with the Nutrition and Education Labeling Act of 1990 and other FDA labeling requirements, including labeling of artificial colors and additives; and USDA National Organic Program and non-GMO labeling requirements.

Advertising and Marketing: Experience litigating and providing compliance advice concerning FTC regulations, state statutes and industry guidelines regarding false and deceptive advertising and marketing, including sale price advertising, product comparison advertising, children’s advertising, use of native advertising, social media, endorsements and testimonials, product placement, and style bloggers, and using a variety of mediums, including print and broadcast ads, telemarketing, direct advertising, email, and SMS text message marketing.  Also advised clients concerning collection of consumer information in connection with loyalty programs, offering of gift cards, and promotional offers, sweepstakes and lotteries.

Intellectual Property: Defended retailers and manufacturers in numerous copyright, trademark and design patent infringement claims. Advises retailer clients concerning protection of their trademark rights by monitoring potentially infringing trademark registration applications, and providing advice and litigation of enforcement actions. At the product development stage, reduces the risk of future litigation by advising merchants concerning potentially infringing use of copyrightable works, trademarks and design patents.

Ecommerce: Advised clients concerning a variety of e-commerce matters, from website accessibility under the ADA to drafting website privacy policies and statements concerning compliance with California’s Transparency in Supply Chains Act.

Privacy: Defended and provided compliance advice concerning a broad range of consumer privacy issues, including compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), the California Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state privacy and data breach laws, and FTC and state law enforcement precedent.  Most recently, advised retailers and manufacturers concerning compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including updating their privacy policies and reconciling their loyalty programs with the CCPA.

ADA: Defended numerous cases under Title III of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) involving premises, service animals, and websites.  Advised clients on compliance with ADA Accessibility Guidelines, including establishing a program for a national retailer to obtain California Certified Access Specialist (CASp) certification of ADA compliance for its stores.  Defended numerous website accessibility claims, and has substantial experience both in defending legal actions and in advising clients concerning compliance with the Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, level AA.

California Proposition 65: Represented retailers, distributors and manufacturers in Proposition 65 matters involving a broad range of chemicals and consumer products, including personal care products, food and beverage products, furniture and housewares, fashion apparel and accessories, appliances, tools and construction materials.  Regularly advises clients concerning newly listed chemicals, and changes in chemical exposure limits, test protocols, warning requirements, and enforcement trends. From the time that a business receives a 60-day notice of violation, she works through the process of evaluating the risk, determining whether removal from sale, reformulation or warning is necessary, negotiating either a dismissal or reasonable settlement with the enforcement group, or litigating the applicable safe harbor level and exposure levels.  Advises businesses entering into either upstream or downstream supply contracts to negotiate the allocation of Proposition 65 risk, and ensures that their contracts contain appropriate indemnity and warranty provisions.

Prior to law school, Merrit was a newspaper reporter and editor for Gannett Newspapers.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS American Bar Association California Bar Association California Retailers Association