Samuel A. Butler

Samuel Butler works with clients to analyze and manage risk related to product labeling and marketing, with a particular focus on health, nutrition, and environmental advertising in the supplement and consumer product spaces. With an extensive background in litigation, he has represented clients before the Federal Trade Commission, the National Advertising Division, and the National Advertising Review Board. He also regularly works with clients to analyze and manage risk related to franchise networks, intellectual property matters, restaurants, and food. Samuel regularly represents franchisors in federal court litigation across the country and has additional experience litigating intellectual property matters outside of the franchise space. In addition to federal court litigation, Samuel has significant experience in both domestic and international arbitration. 

Samuel is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and maintains an active pro bono practice, focused primarily on working with the Latin American community in the District of Columbia.

Prior to joining the firm, Samuel served as a law clerk to the Hon. G. Michael Harvey at the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Samuel is a graduate of Duke University School of Law, where he was an editor of the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law.

Advertising Law

• Assisted a supplement manufacturer through discovery obligations connected to an FTC investigation of a significant customer, including extensive document production and deposition preparation and defense. 
• Represented a consumer products manufacturer in an FTC investigation of several health-related claims, including in extensive negotiations with the agency and meetings with FTC commissioners.
• Represented a major food and supplements manufacturer in NAD challenges, including one appeal before the NARB.
• Participated in and supervised attorney teams in the performance of due diligence reviews in connection with business transactions.
• Advised numerous companies on claims related to recyclability and biodegradability.
• Performed label claims reviews of more than 100 supplements. 

Other Business Litigation

• Represented a major franchisor in pursuing a former franchisee engaged in long-term underreporting and violation of covenant against competition, through judgment and subsequent contempt and bankruptcy proceedings.
• Represented a major franchisor in a putative antitrust class action and the investigations of fifteen state attorneys general related to franchise agreement anti-poaching provisions.
• Represented several franchisors in international arbitration and federal court litigation related to the termination of country-wide master franchise agreements in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. 
• Regularly represents franchisors in litigation related to revenue reporting, terminations, and post-termination obligations.

• Co-presenter, “Recyclable Claims: Class Actions and New California Law,” Council for Responsible Nutrition's Legal Committee, February 15, 2022

• Co-author, "Class Actions Aimed at "Recyclable" Claims: So Far, Courts Resist Demands to Reinterpret Existing Law," Washington Legal Foundation, April 21, 2022
• Co-author, "Supreme Court Holds that FTC Must Complete Administrative Process Before Obtaining Monetary Relief," Washington Legal Foundation, April 27, 2021
• Co-author, "How to Overcome Common eDiscovery Challenges for Franchises," Lighthouse, January 4, 2021
• Author, “When No Policy Is Bad Policy: Extending Document Retention Policies to Text Messages (and Beyond),” The Franchise Lawyer, Summer 2020 Issue

• Merit scholar, Duke University School of Law