Donnelly McDowell
Donnelly McDowell
Chair of the firm’s Advertising and Marketing practice group, Donnelly McDowell focuses his practice on all aspects of advertising and consumer protection law. Donnelly understands how to thread the needle between advancing his clients’ business and marketing objectives and addressing the concerns of regulators and plaintiffs’ attorneys who could impede their efforts.
In both his proactive compliance counseling and effective advocacy in contested matters, he minimizes risk, diffuses current and potential threats, and clears a path for his clients to pursue their goals.
Donnelly is particularly well-versed in several nuanced and specialized areas of consumer protection law, including consumer finance, food and drug law, and direct sales and network marketing compliance. He also has unique experience in many niche subject matters, including automatic renewal and negative option laws, consumer financial privacy, e-commerce transactions, rewards and loyalty programs, gift cards, and unclaimed property laws.
Donnelly’s clients span a range of industries, including retailers, restaurants, manufacturers and distributors of FDA-regulated products and other consumer goods, financial service providers, tech and fintech companies, and direct selling and affiliate marketing companies.
Donnelly’s understanding of both substantive law and regulators’ approaches to investigating and pursuing alleged transgressions helps him successfully represent clients in contested matters, including regulatory inquiries and investigations by the FTC, the CFPB, and the FDA, as well as State AGs and district attorneys.
Donnelly also represents challengers and advertisers before the National Advertising Division (NAD) of the BBB National Programs and the National Advertising Review Board (NARB). His ability to frame and narrow the scope of investigations and define the issues in disputes has led to a long record of successful resolutions.
In his compliance counseling practice, Donnelly helps clients develop strategies to balance regulatory and litigation risk. For consumer-facing companies, he regularly advises clients on all aspects of the customer experience, from advertising to purchase to complaint handling. Working closely and collaboratively with in-house counsel, marketing teams, and other internal constituencies, Donnelly regularly conducts compliance audits to identify compliance gaps and solutions and assists his clients with due diligence assessments for potential acquisitions and investments. In addition, he spearheads policy initiatives, engaging with regulatory agencies in connection with rulemaking, guidance documents, and public meetings.
