March 20, 2025 - ET

Venable LLP

11th Advertising Law Symposium

600 Massachusetts Ave.
Washington, DC 20001

Venable's AdLaw Symposium is back!

Please join us in our Washington, DC, headquarters for this highly anticipated event focused on providing you with the information you need to promote your brand with confidence. Combining the experience and thought leadership of one of the nation's largest advertising law practices, our symposium will offer sessions designed to educate and innovate. Attendees come from the legal and business worlds, and include attorneys, advertising executives, and marketing professionals working for some of the world's biggest brands. Sessions will address broad trends and anticipated developments, as well as industry-specific hurdles, highlights, and more.

Presentation materials are intended to be shared only with attendees of the 2025 AdLaw Symposium. Please email events@venable.com for access to the slides.

Agenda

Time

Panel

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Registration, Breakfast, and Opening Remarks

9:30 a.m. – 10:40 a.m.

Pricing Pitfalls: An Update on Pricing Laws and Junk Fees 

Mary Gardner, Liz Rinehart, and Jay Prapaisilp

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), and state regulators continue to examine how businesses present and disclose all aspects of pricing, putting companies under scrutiny for common pricing strategies, including fees, charges for add-on services, dynamic pricing, and sales and discounts. Industries in all sectors of the economy, including hotels, rental housing, ticket sellers, and others, must be aware of recent developments in pricing law. In this session, we will unpack those legal requirements, review recent enforcement actions, and discuss pricing best practices.

10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Sign-up Savvy: The Latest on Autorenewal and Subscription Law Developments

Ari Rothman and Ellen Berge

The FTC and state regulators continue to weave an evolving patchwork of laws and regulations to govern autorenewals and subscriptions. In this session, you’ll learn the latest updates on the FTC’s Click-to-Cancel Rule and developments in state laws from members of Venable’s Autorenewal Solutions Team (VAST). We’ll review compliance requirements and provide law enforcement and class action war stories to help you adapt your sales practices to the current regulatory environment.

11:35 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.

The Privacy Puzzle: A Round-up of Key Developments in Privacy Law

Robert Hartwell and Allie Monticollo

2025 will see many new faces in leadership roles in Washington shaping the consumer data privacy conversation. Not to be outdone, the states continue to pass new and ever more complicated data privacy frameworks into law, increasing the complexity of the compliance conundrum for advertisers. In this session, we’ll discuss how 2025 will bring new challenges to the data-driven advertising ecosystem and what may be coming as the legislative and regulatory landscapes continue to evolve.

12:20 p.m. – 12:50 p.m.

Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.

False Advertising Snack Break: An Update on Recent Developments in Food and Beverage Litigation

Roger Colaizzi, Todd Harrison, and William Lawrence

Every year seems to bring new trends in what consumers are looking for in products to meet their dietary preferences, and, in response, food and beverage companies rush to bring to market products they can advertise as “natural,” “clean,” “organic,” “low-carb,” “no-sugar,” “alcohol-free,” and use other buzzwords that communicate that their products fit into what customers currently consider a healthy or desirable diet. In that rush, those same companies inevitably encounter challenges from competitors, class action plaintiffs, and regulators asking whether such advertisements are misleading to consumers. If you’re interested in learning about some of the most recent pitfalls advertisers have encountered in this area and how to avoid them, join us for a review of the latest in food and beverage law.

1:45 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. 

Advertising Across Borders: Avoiding Red Flags in Global Ad Campaigns

Melissa Steinman and Shannon Sansom

Creating an international brand campaign can be an advertiser’s dream—or very expensive nightmare. Advertisers are often surprised at the evolving complexities of ensuring legal compliance in multi-country campaigns, which can involve prize promotions and influencer partnerships, artificial intelligence (AI), privacy protections, and more. Join us to discuss the latest legal developments in select countries and learn strategies for how to best protect your brand while engaging audiences across borders!

2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

Coffee Break

2:45 p.m. – 3:35 p.m.

Greenwashing and Beyond: The Evolution of Green Claims and Challenges, and the View Up the Road for Companies Striving to Do Better

Len Gordon and Caitlin Blanche

Marketing products and services as environmentally friendly is an appealing way for businesses to gain consumer interest and brand popularity, but even a smiling earth image in your advertising could put a bull’s-eye on your back, especially without proper substantiation. Join us as we examine the legal and regulatory challenges surrounding the types of claims that draw the most legal attention, with a focus on the rise of greenwashing and resulting scrutiny from lawmakers, regulators, consumers, and plaintiffs’ attorneys. The discussion will review best practices for compliance and risk mitigation.

3:40 p.m. – 4:25 p.m.

Ad Wars: Challenging and Defending Claims before the National Advertising Division

Claudia Lewis and Shahin Rothermel

The National Advertising Division (NAD) is where advertising creativity meets regulatory scrutiny. From bold sustainability statements and “natural” claims to alluring promises like “lashes that defy gravity,” we will explore how companies can challenge their competitors’ claims and how brands can substantiate their own claims. Whether you’re navigating green marketing, product efficacy, or aspirational advertising, you’ll leave with practical strategies to reduce risks, handle challenges, and stay competitive in your industry with integrity.

4:30 p.m. – 5:15 p.m.

Lawyers and AI: Ethics Traps in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape

Eric Prager and Micah Wallen

The rapid rise in the accessibility and use of generative AI—like ChatGPT, Grok, Bard, and Copilot—belies the ethical complexities it presents for lawyers. We have duties of confidentiality, competence, and truthfulness. We can face public censure and even lose our licenses to practice law if we breach these duties. AI presents great opportunities—in conducting our own practices and as a source of new business with current and new clients – but it also presents special risks for lawyers that we need to understand. Join us to learn more about how to avoid ethics problems as you adapt to the use of this technology within the profession.

5:20 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. 

Closing Remarks 

5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Networking Reception