Combining subject matter expertise on the issues that form the basis of claims and experienced litigators to offer companies comprehensive support.

Beveridge & Diamond (B&D) advises companies that make, distribute, transport, or sell products on product labeling, advertising, and marketing claims. When companies do face green marketing lawsuits, B&D's Litigation team offers deep experience in both green marketing claims and product litigation, including putative class actions and nationwide class actions.

Compliance

We provide efficient, actionable, forward-looking reviews of marketing claims to help companies across industry sectors comply with global, federal, and state green marketing requirements and avoid potential risks and enforcement while highlighting the environmental attributes of their products. This includes advising on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s environmental marketing requirements (“Green Guides”) and state counterparts, as well as claims relating to carbon neutrality/"Net Zero" emissions and similar claims.

We possess a deep substantive and scientific knowledge of the focus areas of green marketing—including plastics, packaging, and recyclability; PFAS; energy efficiency; and climate change greenhouse gas emissions—and the various state and federal regulatory frameworks at play.

Litigation

Our litigators defend companies—ranging from FORTUNE® 500 companies to specialized manufacturers—against environmental marketing (AKA “greenwashing”) and consumer protection claims brought under federal and state law.

We understand how to defend greenwashing litigation. Greenwashing cases often hinge on novel interpretations of consumer rights in environmental contexts, requiring familiarity with courts’ approach to both statutory and common environmental law doctrines, B&D’s bread and butter. Our experience includes claims premised on marketing statements about product content, sustainability, recyclability, carbon neutrality, energy efficiency, and product lifecycle impacts.

Our attorneys are skilled in navigating claims alleging misleading marketing on environmental benefits, securing injunctive-only settlements that reduce the likelihood of class certification, and mitigating reputational risks. We leverage our knowledge of relevant class action case law, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforcement practices and history, and industry self-regulatory proceedings before the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs.

Representative Matters

Relevant examples of our work include:

• Defending a beverage manufacturer against a threatened consumer protection class action alleging greenwashing related to the product’s labeling. We used the detailed analysis from a highly reputable third-party certifying organization to demonstrate that the claims had no merit. Based on our showing that fully substantiated the label’s statements and our threat to seek recovery of legal fees and costs, the plaintiffs withdrew their claims and did not pursue litigation.
• Defending a large retailer in a consumer protection class action related to green marketing, where the plaintiff sought to use the case as an alternate means of applying pressure to companies to address various environmental concerns. We successfully obtained an injunctive-only early settlement that avoided costly expert discovery and class certification battles and created more time for the company to make significant decisions regarding the marketing and sale of the products going forward.
• Advising several Fortune 50 companies to ensure that product green marketing claims (such as those relating to recycling and climate goals) conform to applicable federal and state laws and guidelines, including the FTC Green Guides and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act.
• Reviewing product websites and other marketing materials to confirm compliance with Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act advertising rules and related EPA policies.
• Advising several large clients on alignment with the FTC Green Guides and compliance with state consumer protection laws concerning ESG reporting (and related public statements, such as press releases) regarding GHG reduction objectives, “net zero” targets, and renewable energy use or targets.
• Advising clients on the impact of emerging GHG regulations and control regimes in the U.S. and abroad, including those aimed at consumer protection and “greenwashing,” GHG disclosures, and governance standards.
• Advising electronics manufacturers and retailers on litigation and enforcement risks associated with energy efficiency green marketing claims and ecolabels.
• Counseling a global Fortune 500 power generation and technology company on environmental content in its mandatory and voluntary disclosures, including review of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) annual filings, voluntary sustainability reports, and green marketing materials to ensure compliance with applicable federal requirements.
• Helping a major consumer products manufacturer develop product labels and related documents that could be used worldwide to instruct end-users how to properly recycle or dispose of the products at their end-of-life.