Christie Grymes Thompson

Christie Grymes Thompson chairs the firm’s Consumer Product Safety practice group. She focuses her practice on consumer protection matters, including advertising, competitor challenges, promotions and product safety and advises clients on all aspects of regulatory compliance, including counsel pertaining to the statutes and regulations enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and state attorneys general.

She works with national advertisers and consumer products manufacturers on how to keep regulators, competitors and consumers from knocking on their door with a legal challenge and, if they do, she helps them to address and defend the marketing claims at issue. To that end, Christie reviews advertisements and marketing materials for all media, including television, print and social media, to determine compliance with relevant regulations and the risk of challenge.

In the event of an inquiry or complaint, Christie advocates her client’s position before federal and state law enforcement agencies and self-regulatory bodies, as well as in court, for class actions or other litigations on matters involving claim substantiation, use of endorsers, sale pricing practices, green marketing, cause marketing campaigns, financial offers and mobile disclosures, among others. Christie also initiates challenges to competitors’ advertising before the National Advertising Division (NAD) and National Advertising Review Board (NARB), as well as in federal court under the Lanham Act, to help clients protect their brands in the marketplace.

From a product safety standpoint, Christie works with her clients to ensure that their products meet applicable safety standards, including complying with the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGBA), and the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA). Moreover, Christie assists clients in developing product safety compliance programs, analyzing potential reporting obligations, coordinating with other parties in the distribution chain, implementing product recalls, defending against enforcement and penalty proceedings with the CPSC, and responding to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. Christie also helps companies to identify and resolve potential product safety and confidentially issues before such challenges can escalate into negative publicity and/or potentially attract scrutiny from regulators.