Photo of Jeff Warshafsky

Jeff Warshafsky

Subscribe to Jeff Warshafsky's Posts

Jeff Warshafsky is a partner in the Litigation Department. A versatile commercial litigator and strategic advisor, Jeff specializes in consumer class actions, sports litigation, false advertising, trademark, and other intellectual property disputes.

Jeff defends companies in connection with consumer class actions involving advertising and privacy issues. He has handled dozens of class actions around the country for multinational companies across diverse sectors including consumer product companies, retailers, and sports leagues. Jeff also counsels clients to avoid being targeted in such actions, helps them respond to demand letters from plaintiffs’ counsel, and negotiates resolutions.

Additionally, Jeff represents clients in competitor versus competitor advertising disputes, including in Lanham Act cases and advertising self-regulation disputes before the National Advertising Division and the National Advertising Review Board. He also counsels companies on advertising substantiation issues, with an emphasis on complex scientific testing, such as clinical trials and sensory testing. Jeff regularly advises major sports leagues on complex business disputes.

Jeff maintains a robust pro bono immigration practice, assisting clients with asylum and U-Visa applications and in connection with removal proceedings. In addition to his active practice, Jeff is an editor of and contributor to the Firm’s false advertising blog, Watch This Space: Proskauer on Advertising Law.

Contact:Read more about Jeff Warshafsky

In two prior blog posts, we covered how online marketplaces, like Amazon, are being held responsible for defective and counterfeit products sold on their platforms.  In the latest development in this space, California’s Court of Appeal (Second Appellate District) determined that Amazon could be held strictly liable for injuries a consumer suffered from a defective hoverboard she bought from the retailer, even though Amazon neither manufactured nor sold the product.  Loomis v. Amazon.com LLC.

In a recent post, we summarized recent developments in litigation and legislative activity concerning whether online marketplaces may be directly liable for the sale of defective and counterfeit products on their platforms. Now the executive branch has weighed in, with President Trump issuing (on Prime Day, no less) a Memorandum on Stopping Counterfeit Trafficking on E-Commerce Platforms Through Fines and Civil Penalties.

Consumers are doing more and more shopping online. But when a consumer buys a product that is defective or counterfeit, are online marketplaces liable for misconduct by third-party sellers?

E-commerce platforms have generally avoided being treated like their brick-and-mortar counterparts by arguing that they do not actually “sell” goods, but rather provide services (e.g., payment processing, storage, shipping) to third-party sellers, who in turn sell products to consumers. However, recent court decisions and looming legislation may change this dynamic, opening up online marketplaces to product liability and intellectual property claims for products sold by third-parties on their platforms.