WASHINGTON — The Retail Industry Leaders Association said Tuesday it has established a new center dedicated to retail industry legal issues.
The focus of the Retail Litigation Center will be on improving litigation results for retailers, RILA said. The center will focus on federal and state-level cases, particularly at the appellate level, that could impact the retail community.
“The Retail Litigation Center will bring together the industry’s most talented and respected legal professionals to identify and meaningfully engage in legal proceedings affecting the retail industry,” said Sandy Kennedy, president of RILA.
The organization’s efforts are likely to include cases involving intellectual property rights, employment issues, wage and hour problems, and data security privacy issues, Kennedy said.
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“If you look at case law over the last few years, wage and hour issues have been a huge challenge for the industry, and there have been some class-action suits that have also presented challenges,” she said.
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The RLC will be a stand-alone organization, separate from RILA, with its own board that includes executives from J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Dollar General Corp., Jo-Ann Stores Inc. and Michaels Stores Inc. Membership in the organization will be open to retailers and other retail-focused entities, such as law firms and companies that offer litigation support services.
“The creation of the Retail Litigation Center is welcome news to the retail-law community,” said Janet Dhillon, executive vice president, general counsel and secretary for Penney’s and chair of the RLC board. “We will all benefit tremendously from an organization dedicated to presenting the retail industry’s perspective on important legal matters.”
RILA and the RLC will co-sponsor an annual conference, starting this November, focused on legal topics facing the retail industry.