Product Compliance and Litigation

In Depth

Our services

Product safety and compliance

• Offering confidential design-stage review of product concepts, providing early indications of regulatory issues that may arise internationally as product is taken to market
• Providing strategic guidance to plan and implement global product market launches across industries, finding practical and cost-effective solutions and compliance across key markets worldwide
• Identifying global business threats and opportunities arising from regulatory changes
• Providing guidance on international trends in regulatory policy and enforcement, including horizon scanning to identify and track developments that may affect businesses in the future
• Advising clients on CPSC and other regulatory reporting obligations

Regulatory product compliance and risk mitigation

• Advising on areas of regulatory risks tied to business initiatives
• Identifying and tracking imminent regulatory changes and providing counsel on associated business threats and opportunities
• Supporting compliance with product testing, labeling and safety requirements internationally, including finding practical and commercially viable solutions to issues that arise
• Supporting the identification of applicable product standards and facilitating the identification and engagement of appropriate technical professionals worldwide to support compliance activities

Consumer protection and market oversight

• Advising on consumer warranty and other consumer-facing issues around the world
• Handling regulator challenges to product safety or compliance
• Acting as confidential independent advisors on potential product safety issues arising from the company’s own market surveillance activities or external challenges

Risk assessments and product safety

• Supporting product risk assessments, including those required under EU regulations
• Managing international product recalls, regulatory obligations and litigation risks, including counseling on best practices and cost-effective solutions

Global disputes and cross-border litigation

• Coordinating defense and resolution of consumer claims across jurisdictions utilizing our extensive network of local counsel to defend and protect client reputation
• Managing public relations issues and reputational risks arising from product safety and compliance challenges
• Defending large-scale product litigation claims, including mass torts and claims threatening the commercial viability of an entire product line

Crisis management, including recalls, investigations and consumer claims

• Managing global recalls, regulatory investigations and consumer claims
• Steering public relations and reputation issues and providing crisis management for international product safety and compliance challenges
• Defending clients in high-exposure and high-profile matters, including bet-the-company lawsuits in the riskiest venues
• Defending large-scale product liability claims, including mass torts and claims threatening the commercial viability of an entire product line
• Representing companies facing alleged late-reporting civil penalty investigations

Privacy and data security

• Advising on information issues within data products and services, Big Data programs, advertising, corporate transactions, investigations and regulatory actions, cross-border data transfers
• Counseling on EU GDPR, the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, the NIS2 Directive, the Cyber Resilience Act and other regulations, Brexit-related issues, vendor management, AI, cloud computing and technology transactions
• Providing pre-response planning and guidance on incident and breach response

Brand protection

• Guiding clients on key security and critical intellectual property (IP) vulnerabilities across a company’s dealings with internal and external stakeholders
• Counseling on joint development agreements, supply chain security, technology transfers to foreign outsourced contractors and IP protection programs
• Advising on the selection, clearance, prosecution and protection of trademarks and designs
• Counseling on licensing, co-development agreements, co-branding and distribution agreements
• Developing anti-counterfeiting and brand security strategies and assisting with combating the importation of counterfeit goods

ESG and sustainability

• Advising on the planning and execution of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and sustainability policies and disclosures, including climate reporting
• Providing hands-on guidance across clients’ life cycles, with experience ranging from supply chain diligence, forced labor and modern slavery, deforestation and product and packaging regulations
• Offering cross-border capabilities with deep knowledge of US, EU and UK regulatory compliance

Supply chain and insurance disputes

• Managing disputes with supply chain partners on safety or integrity challenges, reaching outcomes that support the company’s broader business
• Handling product-related insurance disputes in arbitration and commercial courts