Advertising, Marketing, Sponsorship & Promotions

A Business-Minded Focus on Legal Solutions

Led by a highly respected marketing, digital, social media, entertainment, sports, and transactional attorney with more than 20 years of in-house experience supporting billion-dollar brands, entrepreneurial ventures, and disruptors, our team includes legal, regulatory, transactional, and advisory counsel, lawyers from government, and litigators. We are steeped in the business side of advertising and marketing challenges, providing practical, real-world perspectives, proactive legal counsel, and thought leadership on advertising, marketing, sponsorships, and promotions. Our lawyers are also leading authorities on emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cryptocurrency, and “dark patterns.”

Balancing legal considerations with business objectives based on our clients’ business realities, we assess risks across corporate functions and personalities and find ways to meet your needs in building your brand, staying competitive, and remaining compliant with legal and regulatory requirements.

Our lawyers know how to work directly with client marketing teams, resolving issues quickly and efficiently—an approach that saves you time and money. We believe in informed decision-making and providing our clients with the tools and insights to confidently assess risk and avoid future problems.

Crafting Campaigns from Ideation through Execution

We advise on and help execute campaigns for some of the biggest and best-known brands in the world, from ideation to production and distribution and everything in between, moving the ball forward and sidestepping obstacles. With extensive experience in all areas of digital and social media, we help clients thoughtfully and strategically expand their digital marketing footprint.

Our expertise also includes drafting best-in-class policies and training programs for your marketing, communications, and legal teams and working shoulder-to-shoulder with industry leaders to develop standards and guidelines for social media policies, sourcing user-generated content, influencer marketing, and native advertising.

Comprehensive Services to Meet Your Needs

Our clients come from wide-ranging industries such as automotive, banking and finance, consumer products, retail, food and beverage, gaming, insurance, sports, and technology and range from startups and entrepreneurs to multinational Fortune 500 corporations, as well as advertising and talent agencies. We advise them on all aspects of advertising, marketing, sponsorships, and promotions law, both online and offline, including:

• ADA compliance
• Advertising and media agency agreements
• Autorenewal subscriptions, Click-to-Cancel Rule, and ROSCA
• Cause marketing, charitable promotions, and commercial co-venturer arrangements
• Claim substantiation and clearance, including CFPB, FTC, FDA, EPA, and USDA compliance and Made in USA claims
• Comparative advertising
• Consumer protection and fraud defense
• Contests, sweepstakes, promotions, rebates, gift cards, giveaways, and loyalty programs
• Data privacy and security
• E-commerce and e-mail, SMS, and telemarketing (CAN-SPAM, TCPA, and DNC)
• Environmental marketing compliance, including the Green Guides, greenwashing, and sustainability claims
• FDA and food and drug advertising
• FTC compliance, including social media and influencer marketing, native advertising, Rule on Consumer Reviews and Testimonials, the FTC Endorsement Guides, and “dark patterns”
• Governance and training
• Intellectual property and licensing, including trademarks, copyrights, and patents
• Labeling and packaging, including FPLA, FHSMA, and Prop. 65
• Lanham Act
• Litigation, consumer class action defense, and self-regulatory challenges before the BBB National Programs (NAD)
• Retail pricing and distribution compliance, including MAP and Robinson-Patman Act
• Talent agreements, including compliance with the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract
• Sponsorships and endorsements, including celebrities, athletes, teams, leagues, gaming, and entertainment properties

The following is a selected sampling of matters and is provided for informational purposes only. Past success does not indicate the likelihood of success in any future matter.

• Provided full spectrum of support for countless contests, sweepstakes, giveaways, and other promotional activities, both online and offline, large and small, including writing rules, developing messaging, working with external agencies and partners, compliance with platform requirements, administration, and fulfillment
• Serve as outside general counsel for one of the fastest-growing advertising agencies in the U.S.
• Provide legal support for all types of media buys, online and offline, including native advertising/sponsored content, targeted advertising campaigns, and value-added/enhanced media buys
• Assisted multiple clients in implementing cause marketing campaigns, charitable promotions, and commercial co-venture arrangements
• Provided full-service legal guidance to national retailer in revising and re-deploying its customer loyalty program
• Successfully represented clients in bringing challenges and defending claims before the BBB National Programs (National Advertising Division)
• Developed comprehensive playbook and training materials implemented by major publisher to comply with ROSCA and state autorenewal subscription laws and to otherwise address potential “dark patterns”
• Provided primary counsel to major media corporation in the development and launch of new subscription-based content platform
• Negotiated wide array of brand sponsorships and integrations with TV programs (American Idol, MasterChef, Portlandia, Top Chef), films (Battleship, Quantum of Solace), video games (Activision, EA, Nintendo, Sony), and online programming (Mark Burnett Productions)
• Negotiated endorsement deals on behalf of brands with multiple high-profile celebrities, athletes, and personalities, including Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Ryan Seacrest, Lionel Richie, LeBron James, Michael Phelps, Nick Saban, and Deion Sanders
• Negotiated and managed all aspects of national advertising program for retailer based on 1980’s television property, including licensing intellectual property and music and securing an endorsement deal with program’s star character
• Negotiated for commissioning of original music by multiple high-profile artists, including Mark Ronson, Common, Jason DeRulo, Taio Cruz, G. Love, and Train, as well as lesser-known artists and music houses
• Licensed music from every major label and publisher, including tracks by Taylor Swift, Lionel Richie, Carrie Underwood, Natasha Bedingfield, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Gap Band, and Sugar Hill Gang
• Regularly assist clients in interpreting, complying with, and resolving claims under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract
• Led negotiations and legal relations with numerous sports organizations, including:
  • Motorsports properties (NASCAR, NHRA, Indy Racing League, and dozens of tracks, teams, and drivers)
  • NHL
  • Multiple NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL teams
  • United States Olympic Committee
  • NCAA and several NCAA Division I teams
• Partnered with regulatory team to audit and overhaul labels and advertising claims for entire beverage portfolio (30+ SKUs) following its acquisition by client
• Wrote and implemented social media policies and delivered accompanying organization-wide training for multiple clients
• Tapped by the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) as the sole industry representative at the FTC’s public workshop entitled In Short: Advertising & Privacy Disclosures in a Digital World. This event was instrumental in shaping the FTC’s views, practices, and subsequent guidance regarding application of its Endorsement Guides in the social and digital space (e.g., in influencer and affiliate marketing)