Schedule

What should you keep your eye on in 2022 and beyond? Hear the latest regulatory updates in food labeling, safety, and enforcement. This session will cover a wide range of current topics, including: healthy, front of pack labeling, allergen labeling, sodium reduction, bioengineered food labeling, labeling of plant-based and novel food products, implementation of the Food Safety Modernization Act, FDA’s New Era of Smarter Food Safety initiative, FDA enforcement, and chemical contaminants in foods.  We’ll address the current status of each of these and provide our best crystal ball outlook for the coming years.

This session will cover key labor and employment considerations given the changes in the workplace since 2020, including remote work, wandering workers, legislative trends, addressing labor shortages, and the re-wakening of organized labor from organizing campaigns, representation elections, and labor negotiations.  In addition, we will cover how various issues that are traditionally viewed as personal matters, including political beliefs and social justice issues, are continuing to impact the workplace and the legal risks of limiting (or not limiting) discussions or activism related to these topics.

Heavy metals and PFAS litigation are changing the food litigation landscape, presenting new challenges for food manufacturers and retailers.  This session discusses the recent rise of class action and personal injury lawsuits focusing on trace substances in foods and dietary supplements, including the theories plaintiffs’ lawyers are pursuing and best defense strategies to defeat these cases.

We are witnessing an explosion in ransomware, and no industry is immune. Come join Peter Marta and Jasmeet Ahuja from Hogan Lovells in a discussion about the current cybersecurity threat landscape and the various legal, operational, and reputational challenges companies often have to navigate when responding to a ransomware attack. Topics will include the legal and regulatory factors that organizations have to consider when deciding whether to pay a ransom, potential security risks with vendors, the evolving role of the board of directors, and pre-attack steps to help you prepare for a incident, including the role of insurance.

As companies implement environmental, social, and governance (ESG) business practices, the potential for class action lawsuits increases. This session will cover current and emerging ESG-related class action risks, including those relating to claims of sustainability and other environmental initiatives, fair trade, employee welfare, and animal welfare.   We will discuss the evolving class claims and theories advanced by the plaintiffs’ bar, suggest best practices and potential mitigation techniques, and offer thoughts about what may be coming around the corner.

 This session will explore evolving legal issues impacting CPG companies and retailers, including e-commerce and a heavier focus on green claims.  An FDA summit on e-commerce last fall foretold potentially stricter regulation of on-line food sales and delivery platforms, which now account for 9% of the $1 trillion spent on food and beverage purchases last year.  At the same time, a rising interest in green labeling and advertising is highlighting the gaps in FTC’s Green Guides and the need for updates.

As we advance through Year 2 of the Biden Administration, and Year 3 of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time to look back and take stock of what we learned from and about OSHA during a Biden Administration, and more importantly, to look ahead and assess what to expect from OSHA now and in the months ahead.  OSHA’s full senior leadership team is in place and has already placed its stamp on the agency.  In this presentation, Eric Conn, Chair of Conn Maciel Carey’s national OSHA Practice will review important OSHA enforcement, rulemaking, and personnel developments, and will discuss the top OSHA issues for which employers need to prepare.  And of course, we will address the lay-of-the-land with respect to OSHA enforcement and rulemaking regarding COVID-19 in the workplace, post the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down OSHA’s vaccinate-or-test emergency rule.