Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Product Liability & Complex Tort; Consumer Class Actions; Advertising & Marketing

Partner

Co-Chair, National Product Liability & Complex Tort Practice Group

Co-lead, National Advertising & Marketing Group

Clients look to Joe for sound, practical advice on their marketing and product labeling so that they can effectively communicate their brands, while ensuring compliance and managing the risk of disputes. Joe also helps clients resolve disputes that arise when competitors or consumers challenge advertising or labeling.

Joe has extensive experience defending consumer class actions involving claims of false advertising and challenges to product labeling. He has also represented clients in competitor advertising disputes, including in litigation and before the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs, Inc. Joe draws on his litigation experience to provide sound, practical advice to companies regarding proposed advertising and product labeling.

Joe has litigated claims that invoke the consumer protection statutes of multiple jurisdictions, including those frequently asserted in class actions in California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, and Florida. Joe has particularly deep knowledge of California's Unfair Competition Law, Consumers Legal Remedies Act, and False Advertising Law.

Joe also has expansive knowledge in the area of class certification requirements, including evolving case law in the false advertising consumer class action context. He has litigated consumer class actions filed in state and federal courts around the country, and has litigated related class actions centralized for pretrial purposes by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

Joe has advised clients on a variety of complex statutory and regulatory schemes, particularly on the food labeling and recall provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, organic certification and labeling requirements under the US Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program, labeling requirements of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act and Wool Products Labeling Act, requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, consumer disclosure and warranty requirements of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and the warning requirements of California's Proposition 65. Additionally, he advises clients on the substantiation requirements for marketing claims.

Joe focuses on developing solutions tailored to the needs of the particular client and situation. He assists clients involved in disputes concerning adverting and product labeling, but also helps clients avoid future disputes by providing tools and advice to guide future practices, such as helping them build their compliance strategies, preparing guidance materials, and developing and delivering training to marketing team members.

Joe enjoys helping companies communicate their brands to consumers, while navigating complex and often ambiguous legal requirements. When challenged, he enjoys driving successful outcomes in disputes through tailored approaches to litigation, depending on the circumstances and needs of the client.

Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers

JD, The George Washington University School of Law With honors BA, Georgetown University