Christopher Van Gundy is a Partner in the Firm’s San Francisco office and is a member of the Litigation, FDA Regulatory Compliance, Chemical Law & Prop 65, and Products Liability Law Groups. He pursues a dual practice of representing consumer product companies in litigation, purported class actions and California Proposition 65 cases typically involving human and pet food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, e-vapor, apparel, and other consumer products, as well as litigating and advising as to FDA/FTC/USDA regulatory compliance, substantiation, labeling reviews, product recalls and privacy claims.
For several years, Mr. Van Gundy has been USA Chambers rated for Food Litigation and Regulation for clients involving his litigation and regulatory work in a wide variety of categories – olive oil, fruit purees, infant formula, energy bars, seafood, dietary supplements, miscellaneous consumer products, alcoholic beverages, personal care products, e-vapor products, snack products, spices, vinegar, seaweed, and pet food, to name a few. Previously, Mr. Van Gundy was the head of litigation for an affiliated group of food companies involving marquee brands of juice, bottled water, tree nuts and citrus.
As both in-house and outside counsel, Mr. Van Gundy has enjoyed extensive first chair case and trial responsibility in a wide variety of disputes under California and New York law involving unfair competition, unfair business practices, insurance, product liability, product recalls, nutrient content, structure/function and organic claims, trademark, state consumer false advertising, federal Lanham Act claims, antitrust, broker disputes, real estate, environmental law, and supply chain disputes in federal, state, and foreign courts and arbitral tribunals. Mr. Van Gundy is one of the few lawyers to try false advertising food cases to a jury, which he uses to gain litigation strategy insights and settlement leverage for his clients. By leveraging his dual practice, Mr. Van Gundy is able to achieve optimal outcomes for his client by mitigating litigation risk or obtaining favorable results in litigation.