Food and Beverage

Practices

• Corporate
  Counsel leading food and beverage clients on matters ranging from game-changing IPOs and M&A deals to major leases and land use matters

  Private placements and public offerings of securities for companies such as Justin’s, sweetgreen, BrightFarms and Peet’s Coffee & Tea

  M&A for Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Earthbound Farm, Basic American and Sazerac

  Licensing and strategic transactions for companies including sweetgreen, Justin’s, Cava, McCormick & Company, Tillster and Sazerac

  Extensive real estate leasing and transactional work for food and beverage clients, including unique capabilities in vineyard and ranch holdings

  Unparalleled access to the largest and most influential network of strategic investors that we can leverage for the benefit of our food and beverage clients

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• Litigation
  Served as lead counsel for the creditors’ committees of food service companies such as Sbarro’s, Pizzeria Uno, Elephant Bar, Foodmart, Long John Silver’s and Otis Spunkmeyer

  Litigate matters for our food and beverage clients involving consumer protection, fraud, products liability and statutory violations

  Represent food and beverage companies in disputes involving breach of warranty claims, indemnification and other contract issues

  Significant consumer class action litigation for food and beverage companies such as Natural Selection Foods, Fifth Generation, Vitamin Shoppe and BevMo

  500+

  securities cases in the last 10 years for companies like Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Annie’s, GNC and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts – one of the most active practices for the defense of issuers in shareholder litigation in the US

  Represented numerous food and beverage clients in employment litigation including wrongful discharge, discrimination and harassment claims and wage and hour class actions

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• Regulatory
  Handle numerous DOJ, FTC and state attorney general consumer protection investigations, including deceptive and unfair advertising, marketing practices, privacy, data security and financial practices

  Extensive experience working with the FDA including conducting regulatory due diligence, advising on compliance strategies for federal and state regulatory matters, responding to inspection reports and drafting comments to proposed rules and Citizen Petitions

  Frequently advise food and beverage clients on regulatory requirements applicable to the design and operation of consumer promotions, including contests, sweepstakes promotions, premium offers, charitable raffles, customer loyalty and referral rewards programs

  Advise clients on the regulatory and business aspects of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA) and Grower Payables matters

  Represent food and beverage clients in data security investigations and inquiries by the FTC, Department of Health and Human Services, state attorneys general, European Union Data Protection Authorities and UK Financial Regulators

  Counsel US and foreign companies on compliance with US laws and regulations governing the cross-border movement of goods, services and technology and affecting the way US companies conduct business overseas

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• Intellectual Property
  22,500+

  Counseled on the selection and adoption of many high-profile food and beverage brands and currently manage 22,500+ marks

  Named a finalist for The American Lawyer's prestigious "IP Litigation Department of the Year" award

  Helped build the trademark portfolios for some of the leading food and beverage companies including Sazerac, sweetgreen and Earthbound Farm

  Aggressively defend and enforce trademarks for companies including Jackson Family Wines, Partida Tequila and Sazerac

  One of the few patent practices in the world with focused experience on the rapidly evolving AgBio industry

  24,000+

  patents across 120+ jurisdictions worldwide. Provide holistic patenting services and advice for companies like Wedderspoon and Sweet Darling,

  300+

  PTAB proceedings

  30+

  Section 337 ITC investigations

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