Raqiyyah Pippins

Raqiyyah Pippins co-leads the firm’s Consumer Products Practice Group and Consumer Products & Retail Industry Team. Her consumer protection practice centers on the regulation, marketing and sale of products sold directly to consumers. She represents companies involved in developing, marketing, importing and exporting consumer products, including FDA-regulated products, apparel, appliances and devices. Her work spans FDA requirements for food, dietary supplements, cosmetics, drugs and medical devices, as well as FTC and state oversight of consumer product marketing and sales.

Raqiyyah advises companies on promotional strategies that account for federal and state rules governing direct-to-consumer claims. She counsels on health-related, performance and sourcing claims—including natural, organic and green claims—for apparel, conventional food, dietary supplements, cosmetics and devices. Her work also includes advising FDA-regulated companies on product development, monograph compliance and prescription-to-over-the-counter switches, and counseling companies on clinical and sensory studies intended to substantiate advertising claims. She works directly with clients’ marketing and research and development teams to identify strategies consistent with their desired level of risk. Trade organizations supporting manufacturers of FDA-regulated products also seek her advice on FTC and state standards affecting the risk profiles of their members’ product portfolios.

When marketing practices are challenged, Raqiyyah represents consumer product companies in advertising proceedings before the National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs and in FDA, FTC and state agency investigations. She also works with litigation teams defending clients against consumer litigation demands alleging unfair and deceptive advertising practices. Together, her counseling and disputes work addresses both the development of consumer product claims and the regulatory or legal scrutiny those claims may face.

• FDA-regulated consumer product companies by developing defense strategies with litigation teams to defend against consumer class action litigation demands alleging purported violations of state food & drug laws constitute unfair and deceptive advertising practices.

• Manufacturers of FDA-regulated products regarding effective product promotion via diverse mediums (e.g., labeling, website, television networks, social media and platforms intended for handheld-devices) while accounting for FDA, FTC, NAD, state regulation and other risk considerations.
• One of the largest US drugstore chains in coordinating the review of more than 600 generic brand labels, including an assessment of claim substantiation and compliance with federal labeling regulations.
• Retailers and manufacturers of FDA regulated products regarding adverse event reporting requirements and managing voluntary recalls.
• Leading confectionary company in managing international legal review of new front-of-pack labeling system intended for use in twenty-four countries.

• Consumer packaged goods companies in developing novel marketing strategies for conventional food, dietary supplement, and cosmetic products including use of health-benefit, nutrient content, product composition (e.g., natural or organic), and performance claims.
• Manufacturers of FDA-regulated products in effectively engaging stakeholders in trade associations to comment regarding proposed FDA rulemakings impacting safety and labeling regulations.
• Manufacturer of market-leading OTC allergy products in successful development and implementation of multi-faceted marketing campaigns for product portfolio, including 1st in class Rx-to-OTC switched intranasal corticosteroid product.
• FDA-regulated companies with responses to FTC and state AG inquiries regarding advertising practices, including claim substantiation and adequate use of disclosures in advertisements.
• Global Fortune 500 companies in challenges before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Better Business Bureau National Programs including challenges related to comparative health-benefit claims and preference testing.
• Pharmaceutical companies regarding FDA adverse event reporting requirements and related Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act considerations.

• J.D., University of Virginia School of Law, 2006
• B.A., Stanford University, 2003

• District of Columbia
• Virginia

• Member, National Bar Association: Commercial Law Section
• Vice Chair, American Bar Association, Antitrust Section, Advertising Disputes and Litigation Committee (2021-2022)
• Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Federal City Alumnae Chapter
• Past National Chair, National Black Law Students Association
• Fellow, Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD)