Legal Affairs Committee Thought Leadership

At a June 2023 meeting of the ANA’s Legal Affairs Committee, a panel of veteran lawyers offered legal updates on the topics of sustainability claims, influencer marketing, and data privacy.

Consumer data privacy regulations have been proliferating across the U.S., with the CCPA having led the way and new statutes in many states having more recently been passed. The ANA’s Legal Affairs Committee convened a panel to help marketers and their partners respond to this raft of legislation and its implications for dealing with vendors.

At a February 2023 meeting of the ANA Legal Affairs Committee, FTC observers from Kelley Drye & Warren drew attention to the fact that the governmental organization is shifting its attention from case-by-case enforcement toward more aggressive rulemaking.

At a February 2023 meeting of ANA’s Legal Affairs Committee, the Media Rating Council gave an overview of its mission and some of the considerations it is grappling with in the face of data-privacy regulations’ impact on the measurement landscape.

Designed by the FTC to offer guidance on the use of environmental marketing claims, the “Green Guides” are shortly set to be revised, and the FTC is seeking public comments. Law firm Reed Smith’s John Feldman provided an overview of some of the areas on which the FTC is seeking those comments.

At an October 2022 joint meeting of the ANA’s Legal Affairs and Government Relations Committees, Kirk Bado of the National Journal and Nick Choate of Venable, shared their predictions for the upcoming election and the potential policy consequences.

At an October 2022 joint meeting of the ANA’s Legal Affairs and Government Relations Committees, representatives from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) reviewed, in broad strokes, how the 2022 elections are shaping up for state level races and ballot measures.

For June’s meeting, presenters from Seyfarth provided updates on FTC, litigation, and privacy matters. Presenting were Joe Orzano and Jeremy Schachter.

At a July 2022 meeting of the ANA Legal Affairs Committee, John Feldman of the law firm Reed Smith gave an overview of some recent updates to the FTC’s endorsement and testimonial guidelines.

For June’s meeting, attorneys from Venable LLP discussed recent FTC developments, NAD decisions, Lanham Act and class action false advertising cases, and updates to state laws.

For May’s meeting, attorneys from Crowell & Moring discussed recent federal and state updates relating to advertising technology, ESG claims, substantiation claims, COVID related test and health claims; and recent developments concerning the Metaverse and deceptive online advertising and marketing practices.

For April’s meeting, attorneys from Davis+Gilbert discussed recent federal and state updates regarding free trials, subscriptions, and negative option programs; European privacy law updates; COVID-19 impacts on the production of commercials; and developments concerning arbitration clauses and class action waivers.

For March’s meeting, attorneys from Reed Smith provided updates on recent FTC and NAD activity, false advertising cases, and related developments in privacy law.

For January’s meeting, attorneys from Finnegan LLP presented on the latest updates from the FTC (including recent developments with consumer reviews), NAD decisions, class action trends, Lanham Act cases, and the recent boom with the NFT/metaverse campaigns and promotions.

Sophie Goossens, a partner at the law firm Reed Smith, explored the nature of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the type of ownership they confer.

Adam Regele of the California Chamber of Commerce examined recent efforts in California to take a more environmentally friendly approach to the use of plastics.

In 2022, The National Advertising Division (NAD) expects to adjust its approach to take on misleading social stereotypes that appear in advertising.

For January’s meeting, attorneys from Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. provided updates on recent NAD decisions, class action and Lanham Act case updates, and updates on TCPA activity, Privacy Law, and FTC Enforcement Actions.

For November’s meeting, Loeb & Loeb presented on recent NAD/NARB decisions, federal litigation, and recent FTC enforcement and updates.

For November’s meeting, Loeb & Loeb presented on recent NAD/NARB decisions, federal litigation, and recent FTC enforcement and updates.