RETAIL, CONSUMER & ADVERTISING
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati offers wide-ranging experience and expertise representing clients in transactions and lawsuits related to retail distribution and sales, consumer issues, and advertising practices. The firm represents a variety of clients—ranging from start-ups to established public companies—in many areas involving consumer markets, including distribution and marketing agreements, pre-publication review of promotions and disclosures, compliance with online and privacy regulations, handling of government advertising inquiries, and consumer fraud, false-advertising, and unfair-competition litigation.
Our attorneys routinely counsel our retail industry clients regarding a host of issues, such as:
We also have defended clients in consumer actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission and state Attorneys General and in proceedings before the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau. In addition to counseling our retail industry clients, we have litigated high-stakes cases in state and federal courts, including consumer fraud class actions, false-advertising claims, and unfair-competition cases.
We work with a network of attorneys around the world to ensure compliance with international laws, including the consumer protection and advertising laws of key foreign markets such as the European Union and Asia. Our attorneys are active in organizations such as the American Marketing Association and the International Trademark Association, and have testified before legislatures concerning controversial marketing practices. We also present regularly on topics related to consumer issues and advertising practices.
Our retail clients come from a variety of industries, including entertainment, apparel, consumer electronics, food, and the Internet. Representative clients include: Apple, Gap, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, LeapFrog Enterprises, Netflix, NETGEAR, Palm, SanDisk Corporation, and Williams-Sonoma.
Consumer Regulatory & Privacy
A well-established team that includes the former director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, the firm's consumer regulatory and privacy attorneys were among the first in the nation to focus on privacy and information governance as a discrete and specialized practice. Our team has advised hundreds of companies on all aspects of privacy and data security law, both in the United States and abroad, and serve a vast array of industries, including technology, digital media and entertainment, and life sciences. Among many other matters, our attorneys have helped clients develop privacy and security policies, implement compliance programs, resolve complex international e-commerce issues, protect trade secrets, devise appropriate legal responses to computer security breaches, and comply with federal anti-spam legislation. We have offered strategic advice to businesses in a variety of fields on issues relating to advertising and marketing practices and consumer protection. In addition, our attorneys have successfully defended clients involved in government investigations, enforcement actions, and litigation, including bet-the-company matters.
