Samuel D. Jockel

• Advised ingredient suppliers and branded food companies on bioengineered food labeling and related claims, including consumer class action litigation risk. 
• Provided regulatory and policy guidance on the development and labeling of a number of plant-based and cell-cultured meat products. 
• Advised a restaurant chain on FDA menu labeling requirements and advertising claims.
• Obtained USDA label approval for multiple products on behalf of a startup food company. 
• Advised clients on USDA import and export permit and certification requirements. 
• Advised a multinational ingredient supplier on food safety obligations under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), including preparing a food safety plan for compliance with Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls (HARPC) requirements. 
• Assisted clients in obtaining self-affirmed generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status for food contact substances and food ingredients. 

Sam Jockel is a senior associate in the Litigation & Trial Practice Group and a member of the Food, Drug & Device/FDA Team.  Sam focuses his practice on regulatory, policy, and litigation matters involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) related to food, beverages, and cosmetics. Sam assists clients on premarket clearance, import and export issues, and product labeling and advertising. Sam also helps clients navigate product recalls and respond to regulatory enforcement actions, and defends clients in consumer class action matters. 

Previously, Sam served as a trial attorney in the USDA’s Office of the General Counsel.  Sam was counsel for the implementation of the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard, playing a key role in providing advice to senior USDA officials, drafting the proposed rulemaking, and defending the USDA in a challenge under the Administrative Procedure Act.  While at the USDA, Sam represented the Agricultural Marketing Service, Food Safety and Inspection Service, and Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in administrative enforcement proceedings under the Animal Welfare Act, Packers and Stockyards Act, and Humane Methods of Slaughter Act.  Sam began his legal career as an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Fellow in the FDA’s Office of International Programs, where he worked on medical product safety and regulatory harmonization initiatives.

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• District of Columbia

Education

• Boston College (J.D., 2014)
• Johns Hopkins University (B.A., 2011)

Memberships