Focus Areas
An illustrative sampling of Eric’s experience includes:
Administrative Procedure Act Issues
- Representing a major municipality that operates a large-hub airport in litigation relating to the airport’s noise compatibility program before the D.C. Circuit and administrative proceedings before the FAA.
- Advising a client with respect to challenging actions taken by OSHA to add the client to its Severe Violator Enforcement Program list.
- Successfully challenging in federal district court as arbitrary and capricious an FDA decision to regulate electronic cigarettes as unapproved new drugs and/or medical devices under Chapter V of the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act.
Electronic Cigarette Industry
- Securing, on federal preemption grounds, dismissal of claims alleging that the marketing of a client’s vapor products violated the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act because the products were not the subject of an FDA marketing order issued as a result of a premarket tobacco application (PMTA). Yimam v. Mylé Vape, Inc., Case No. 2019 CA 008050 B, 2020 D.C. Super. LEXIS 7 (D.C. Sup. Ct. June 11, 2020).
- Obtaining a preliminary injunction prohibiting the FDA from treating an e-cigarette distributor’s products as an unauthorized drug or medical device. This decision, Smoking Everywhere, Inc. v. U.S. Food & Drug Administration, 680 F. Supp. 2d 62 (D.D.C. 2010), opened the doors to the creation of the electronic cigarette industry in the United States.
- Mounting a successful dormant Commerce Clause challenge on behalf of e-liquid manufacturer to Indiana’s legislation governing the manufacture of e-liquids. GoodCat, LLC v. Cook, 202 F. Supp. 3d 896 (S.D. Ind. 2016), aff’d, 678 Fed. App;x 418 (7th Cir. 2017).
- Obtaining a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against New York’s emergency flavor ban on the ground that the ban violated the New York constitution’s separation of powers. In re Vapor Technology Ass’n v. Cuomo, 118 N.Y.S.3d 397 (Albany S. Ct. 2019).
- Serving as regulatory and litigation counsel to a major industry trade association.
- Counseling foreign and domestic ENDS device and e-liquid manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, and retailers on regulatory compliance issues.
- Representing importers and distributors in Section 337 patent infringement investigations before the International Trade Commission brought by a major ENDS device manufacturer.
- Counseling manufacturers on the preparation of premarket tobacco applications (PMTAs) and on marketing and distribution issues, including marketing plans, post-market surveillance plans, and distribution agreements.
- Representing clients in California Proposition 65 litigation and public nuisance litigation.
- Counseling and representing clients in product liability litigation, contractual disputes, and trademark litigation.
Financial Services Industry
- Representing and advising the independent trustees of a closed-end investment fund with respect to the alleged theft of millions of dollars of fund assets by the fund’s former president and investment manager.
- Representing a foreign group captive insurance company in a series of federal and state court cases seeking to collect on multimillion-dollar promissory notes and defend against a series of contractual and business tort claims, including fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, securities violations and allegations of the unlawful transaction of insurance in various states.
- Conducting an independent investigation of claims of alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by the directors of a major national bank.
- Winning a jury verdict in federal court against several offshore companies associated with a Venezuelan national for breach of an investment banking agreement relating to the funding of a resort hotel in Aruba. Bazarian Int’l Fin. Assocs., LLC v. Desarrollos Hotelco, C.A., 342 F. Supp. 3d 1 (D.D.C. 2018).
Trademark and Copyright Litigation
- Representing a professional photographer in a lawsuit against a film company and the federal government resulting from the unauthorized use of photographs in a nationally televised film in violation of the photographer’s copyright and license agreement.
- Representing an electronic cigarette distributor against trademark infringement and unfair competition claims brought by a major tobacco company in federal court.
- Advising electronic cigarette companies regarding potential trademark litigation against infringers of their marks.
Employment/Noncompetition-Related Disputes
- Obtaining a jury verdict in the amount of a full year’s salary for a breach of fiduciary duty claim against the former vice president of business development for a government contractor who established a competing company while still employed.
- Defending two former equity partners of a major law firm in an arbitration against claims for breach of a partnership agreement and breach of fiduciary duty as a result of their withdrawal from the firm.
- Representing a publicly held staffing company in litigation against a former district manager who set up a competing staffing company; obtained a favorable settlement and ultimate determination of non-dischargeability of the debt from the bankruptcy court when the former employee failed to pay the settlement amount. Also represented another national staffing company as successor in interest to the publicly held staffing company in follow-on litigation against the same individual; obtained a favorable verdict in a bench trial in state court against the individual, including an award of punitive damages and a finding of contempt for breaches of a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
- Representing a United States Secret Service agent against allegations of misconduct and disciplinary action before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
- Representing a federal government attorney against allegations of misconduct and ethical violations before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
- “U.S. Court of Appeals Weighs in on Hemp-Derived Delta-8 THC Classification,” Thompson Hine Cannabis Practice Update, May 2022
- “MORE Cannabis Legislation in the House,” Thompson Hine Cannabis Practice Update, April 2022
- “Marijuana on Congress’s Minds,” Thompson Hine Cannabis Practice Update, December 2020
- “E-cigarette enforcement at a post-Gottlieb FDA,” SmartBrief, May 2019
- “Forum Selection Clauses in Agreements with Foreign Counterparties: Not Just Another Boilerplate Provision,” Thompson Hine Business Law Update, Spring 2016
- “The Minefield of E-Cigarette Labeling And Promotion,” Law360, October 2, 2015
- “Planning For The FDA’s ‘Deeming Rule’ For E- Cigarettes,” Law360, September 21, 2015
- Co-Author, “E-Cigarettes: Product Liability & Lithium Ion Batteries,” Thompson Hine Product Liability eNewsletter, Winter 2015
- “Latin American State Secrecy and Mexico’s Transparency Law,” 38 Geo. Wash. Int’l L. Rev. 437 (2006)
- Co-presenter, “Legal Issues Impacting the Cannabis Industry,” Thompson Hine Webinar, April 2021
- Selected as a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America
- Selected as a DC Rising Star by The National Law Journal, 2020
- Selected to the Washington, D.C. Rising Stars list, 2014-2021
- Listed as a Future Star, by Benchmark Litigation, 2021, 2022 and 2024
- Selected to Benchmark Litigation 40 & Under Hot List, 2017-2021
Professional Associations
- Virginia State Bar
Community Activities
- Member, Board of Education for Our Savior Lutheran Church and School in Arlington, Virginia
Education
- The George Washington University Law School, J.D., 2006,
with high honors; Order of the Coif; managing editor, The George Washington International Law Review
- Marquette University, B.A., 2003, summa cum laude,
Phi Beta Kappa
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Maryland
- Virginia
Court Admissions
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- U.S. Supreme Court
Languages
- Spanish
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- U.S. Court of Appeals Weighs in on Hemp-Derived Delta-8 THC Classification,
Cannabis Practice Update
, May 25, 2022 - MORE Cannabis Legislation in the House,
Cannabis Practice Update
, April 7, 2022 - Seven Thompson Hine Lawyers Recognized by Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers,
Thompson Hine LLP
, April 27, 2021 - Marijuana on Congress’s Minds,
Cannabis Practice Update
, December 9, 2020 - Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Thompson Hine’s Litigation and Labor & Employment Practices and 24 Firm Litigators,
Thompson Hine LLP
, December 1, 2020 - Eight Thompson Hine Lawyers Recognized by Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers,
Thompson Hine LLP
, April 17, 2020 - Eight Thompson Hine Lawyers Recognized by Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers, May 13, 2019