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Notice anything different? You should. To celebrate the start of our fifth year, we gave the blog a makeover. Or as they say on the Web, a redesign. We think the new look does a better job of displaying blog entries and organizing our growing lists of resources, links and tags. Yes, we liked the orange-and-blue color scheme. But after 239 entries and 119 comments, we decided this anniversary was a good a time to improve our look and functionality.

What has not changed since our first blog on Aug. 2, 2005, is our mission. So it is worth republishing the first entry by our founder, Joel Rothman. For those of you who were not present for the launch, here is the original post:

Welcome friends to the first legal weblog devoted entirely to the nutritional supplement industry. This first post will give you the what and why of this blog, as in what I am going to write about here and why I am writing it. For more information on who I am, click the “About” link on this page.

Okay, what is this blog about? It’s about all forms of nutritional and dietary supplements, vitamins, neutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals, the laws that regulate them, and court cases concerning those laws. It’s about laws regulating supplement safety, advertising and sales. It’s about lawsuits brought by those claiming to have been injured by supplements, and lawsuits brought by and against companies in the supplement business. It’s about the claims dietary supplement manufacturers make in big bold letters on the front of the box, and the disclaimers in tiny letters on the back of the box. It’s about other things too that strike my fancy. So that’s the what.

The why is pretty simple. From time to time I represent nutritional supplement manufacturers. In the past I have found it difficult to get current, topical and useful information about the laws and cases that matter to my clients. Other lawyers I know have also told me that there is really no place to go on the web that addresses legal matters of concern to this young and growing industry. So, I hope to provide some measure of assistance to those like me looking for a resource like this.

Now, a word about what this blog is not. Since I have already said that I have clients in the business, you might have figured out that this blog is not a place to find a lawyer to sue supplement manufacturers because you think you got sick or hurt from taking dietary supplements or using cosmeceuticals. There are lots of lawyers out there who I am sure will listen to you and they are easy enough to find. This is also not a blog that rails against nutritional supplements and the people who make them. This is not a blog about the pros and cons, this is a blog about the legal environment in which nutritional supplements are made and sold. If you have something to say about what is good or bad about a particular pill, creme or protein shake, we are interested only if there are legal implications to it. This blog is also not legal advice, so don’t use it as such and we disclaim any liability to you and yours should you disregard this warning.

So there you have the what and the why. Again, the who is linked on the sidebar. Now, let’s get busy with some content!

About 

Joel B. Rothman represents clients in intellectual property infringement litigation involving patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, defamation, trade libel, unfair competition, unfair and deceptive trade practices, and commercial matters. Joel’s litigation practice also includes significant focus on electronic discovery issues such as e-discovery management and motion practice relating to e-discovery.