Perkins Coie is pleased to announce that its fifth annual Food Litigation Year in Review, in coordination with the expansion of the firm’s practice, has been broadened and renamed the Food & Consumer Packaged Goods Litigation Year in Review. In coordination with this rebranding, we have also launched an infographic report that highlights key litigation outcomes, filing data, and industry trends. Despite a tumultuous year, one thing stayed the same: plaintiffs’ class action attorneys continued to file plenty of lawsuits against manufacturers of consumer packaged goods (CPGs).

Even with the interruption in civil litigation prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, more new class action lawsuits were filed against the food and beverage industry—220 cases—than in any other year of the last decade. And, as plaintiffs’ lawyers have set their sights on other products in the CPG space, Perkins Coie has begun to systematically track these cases as well. Supplements, pet foods, personal care products, and cannabis-based goods are among the industries now targeted by the plaintiffs’ bar.

Perkins Coie has been a leader in defending food and CPG litigation cases, securing favorable, precedent-setting results for its clients. The firm’s resident knowledge base includes attorneys from its nationally recognized Retail & Consumer Products industry group and, within that group, attorneys focused on food and beverage and consumer packaged goods.

To learn more, read the full reports here.

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Photo of Charles Sipos Charles Sipos

Charles Sipos is a class action litigator with more than two decades of experience focusing on technology, consumer goods, and privacy issues.

He litigates class actions nationwide and has appeared and argued on behalf of defendants in federal courts, including in California, Colorado…

Charles Sipos is a class action litigator with more than two decades of experience focusing on technology, consumer goods, and privacy issues.

He litigates class actions nationwide and has appeared and argued on behalf of defendants in federal courts, including in California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington, and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second, Seventh, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuits. Charles’ litigation successes have included dismissals and summary judgment based on lack of Article III injury, statutory standing under consumer protection laws, federal preemption, primary jurisdiction, failure to allege damages, First Amendment protection for commercial speech, the “reasonable consumer” standard, and related defenses.

Photo of Barak Cohen Barak Cohen

Barak Cohen represents two kinds of clients: companies and individuals facing government enforcement actions and investigations in highly regulated industries, particularly the healthcare and government contracting industries, and companies that need strategic business advice regarding compliance and regulatory matters in the cannabis industry.

Photo of David T. Biderman David T. Biderman

David Biderman, a partner in Perkins Coie’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, focuses his practice on mass tort litigation and consumer class actions. He heads the firm’s Mass Tort and Consumer Litigation group. He has represented a wide variety of companies in…

David Biderman, a partner in Perkins Coie’s San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, focuses his practice on mass tort litigation and consumer class actions. He heads the firm’s Mass Tort and Consumer Litigation group. He has represented a wide variety of companies in state and federal courts in California for 30 years.

On consumer class actions, David represents packaged food companies, coffee companies, dairy companies, footwear companies and others whose nutritional or health claims have been challenged. He also has represented search engines and other online companies. He has a record of favorable results for clients. He successfully tried a major consumer fraud class action on behalf of one of the world’s major search engines in a case involving online gambling advertisements. For that same client, he negotiated a favorable settlement of a class action challenging its online advertising pricing. He represented a major coffee retailer in defeating a class action on standing grounds. He also has litigated pre-emption defenses arising out of food labeling and obtained a dismissal for a client whose nutritional statements were challenged.

For fifteen years, David managed the firm’s full-service product liability team responsible for defending over 1,000 toxic tort cases pending in Los Angeles and Northern California state courts. These cases entailed ongoing trial activity at various levels for several trials set each month. The highly experienced and well-coordinated team has handled thousands of asbestos toxic tort cases for a variety of clients, including FORTUNE 500 companies from such industries as consumer products, aerospace manufacturing, household goods, dry cleaning and industries that generate electromagnetic fields, such as electric utilities and operators of wireless communications systems.

Photo of Tommy Tobin Tommy Tobin

Thomas Tobin’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and class action matters involving statutory, constitutional, and regulatory issues in a range of industries, including food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and cannabis. In the food and beverage sector, Tommy has experience defending false…

Thomas Tobin’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and class action matters involving statutory, constitutional, and regulatory issues in a range of industries, including food and beverage, consumer packaged goods, and cannabis. In the food and beverage sector, Tommy has experience defending false advertising claims and consumer protection claims for well-known international corporations.

Photo of Jasmine Wetherell Jasmine Wetherell

Jasmine Wetherell advises consumer goods companies, with an emphasis on serving food, dietary supplement, cosmetics/personal care, and cannabis businesses. She maintains a civil litigation practice focusing on consumer class-action defense and is highly experienced in defending claims brought under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies…

Jasmine Wetherell advises consumer goods companies, with an emphasis on serving food, dietary supplement, cosmetics/personal care, and cannabis businesses. She maintains a civil litigation practice focusing on consumer class-action defense and is highly experienced in defending claims brought under California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law, and False Advertising Law.

Photo of Kristine E. Kruger Kristine E. Kruger

Kristine Kruger is an experienced litigator who works closely with her clients to develop effective litigation strategies by carefully evaluating each client’s case-specific goals and business objectives. She has extensive experience representing a broad range of clients in high priority complex litigation matters…

Kristine Kruger is an experienced litigator who works closely with her clients to develop effective litigation strategies by carefully evaluating each client’s case-specific goals and business objectives. She has extensive experience representing a broad range of clients in high priority complex litigation matters, including consumer protection, product liability, environmental litigation, consumer finance, business disputes, and general commercial matters.