Capabilities / Animal Health & Production
Making heads and tails of the animal health industry.
Headquartered in the heart of the Animal Health Corridor—home to 56 percent of total worldwide animal health, diagnostics, and pet food sales—Husch Blackwell was the first law firm of its size to create an animal health law team dedicated to livestock and companion animal health. We have the deep experience to advise clients on any business or legal matter, such as mergers and acquisitions, workplace and employee safety, product and technology licensing, sustainability and ESG compliance and reporting, and federal and state regulatory requirements, including vital FDA experience with former agency personnel on our team.
Because science is such a key piece of animal health, our animal health law group is built around Ph.D.-level scientists and attorneys with backgrounds in molecular chemistry, vaccines, immunology, genetics, pharmacology, and physiology. We also focus on establishing and protecting brands for clients worldwide.
Animal Health
As some of the most heavily regulated product classes on the market, animal feedstocks and drugs require deep legal and industry knowledge. At Husch Blackwell we have developed an Animal Health team of lawyers with the necessary background and experience to provide clients with a turnkey solution to the research, manufacture, and marketing of animal health products. Our team brings together intellectual property, antitrust, and federal/state regulatory lawyers to help clients get in front of challenges and manage risk.
FDA Regulatory
The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is the chief regulator of the pet food and animal drug industries. Our Animal Health team features former FDA personnel and can effectively guide clients through all phases of product development, including approvals for new drugs/products, advice on marketing and manufacturing, and responding to agency inquiries.
Meat & Poultry
Our firm represents producers of meat and poultry products across the country on a variety of business and legal issues, ranging from regulatory reviews, inspections, and investigations to resolving disputes in connection with commercial, environmental, employment-related and marketing/labeling causes of action. We have deep experience in assisting clients with regulatory compliance programs concerning both the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as well as state-level regulators. Our team is also poised to handle novel issues for industry participants, including internet-of-things technologies, blockchain, agricultural biotechnologies such as gene-edited animals, and the emergent challenges of ESG compliance and reporting.
Dairy
Husch Blackwell has worked with leading producers of milk and dairy products for decades to provide corporate and business law advice, craft regulatory compliance programs, and to advocate for them in a variety of disputes, including regulatory investigations, product liability lawsuits, and patent and trademark enforcement actions. Our clients include one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the United States, and our team is well-versed in handling the complex legal and operational issues that arise within the co-op context, including corporate transactions.
Sustainability
As alternative protein and other novel categories of food grow in market share, traditional meat and poultry producers are under greater pressure to demonstrate sustainable production practices and establish higher benchmarks for sustainability, such as the recently revised US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) sustainability goals. Our team works with industry participants across the entire product lifecycle—from producers to auction markets, processors, and retailers—to develop the necessary legal framework for their sustainability efforts and reporting goals.