APPAREL INDUSTRY LAW

Over the past 30 years, we have earned a reputation for being among the leading lawyers for apparel and textile manufacturers, designers, piece good suppliers and retailers. The firm’s apparel industry practice group attorneys guide, protect and partner with businesses to increase their value.

Experience

We are trusted counselors and insiders in an industry known for its selectivity and operational dependence on close personal relationships. The firm’s comprehensive collection of apparel industry services covers:

  • Business formation and transactions
  • Commercial and business litigation
  • Bankruptcy and involuntary bankruptcy
  • Licensing
  • Business operations, financing, mergers and acquisitions, growth and exit strategies
  • Employment
  • AB 633 wage and hour claims
  • Copyrights and trademarks

Clients

Ezra|Brutzkus|Gubner LLP’s apparel clients are publicly and privately-held domestic and foreign companies ranging from $2 million fashion-forward start-ups to $200 million multi-generational entities operating across the entire industry.

Our attorneys represent companies involved in the domestic and overseas sourcing and production of finished product and piece good and trim supplies. We represent dye houses, denim washhouses and laundries. Also among our clients are leading men's, women's, junior's and children apparel makers, outerwear, surf and boardwear, swimwear and intimate manufacturers and sales representatives and showrooms

Network

Firm attorneys are in the center of a formidable professional network built through years of industry achievement. We are able to assist clients with company growth by introducing them to valuable financing, real estate and operational resources.

As respected members of the apparel industry, firm lawyers can resolve disputes and close transactions efficiently, remedy copyright and trademark infringements quickly and develop growth and exit strategies wisely.


APPAREL AND TEXTILE INDUSTRY LEGAL SERVICES

Business formation and transactions

Apparel practice group attorneys structure and form business entities, assist in capitalization and financing, draft buy-sell agreements and executive compensation agreements for owners, draft agreements with employees and suppliers, and negotiate and steer major transactions.

Additional areas of experience include negotiating factoring agreements, letters of credit, daily business contracts and commercial and retail leases. We focus on planning for the unexpected, remedying known problems and creating profitable opportunities.

Commercial and business litigation

Across a full range of disputes, including conflicts involving piece good suppliers, retailer charge-backs, class action-style and general commercial issues, apparel industry practice group attorneys achieve business-sound and swift resolutions in litigation matters. We prosecute matters aggressively when required and consistently reach favorable results for clients in mediation and arbitration.

Bankruptcy and involuntary bankruptcy

We fully assert our client’s creditor’s rights in bankruptcy matters and have substantial success obtaining payment for creditors by initiating involuntary bankruptcy actions.

Licensing

For both licensees and licensors, we protect and advise businesses in all aspects of their licensing agreements.

Firm attorneys evaluate and assess deals, and review and draft documentation within the framework of our client’s business plan. When representing a licensor in a transaction, we determine the viability of long-term relationships, the availability of capital to build the mark and opportunities to execute sales and production on time.

Business operations, financing, growth, mergers and acquisitions, and growth and exit strategies

At every stage of a client’s business, our apparel industry practice group attorneys assist clients in their daily business operations and critical decisions.

For start-ups seeking market entry, financing and a solid start, we provide valuable resources and extensive guidance. When businesses are primed for next-level growth, we can reduce risk exposure while creating new opportunities. This may include acquiring other businesses, strategic partnering and private equity financing. At the later stages of a business, we devise creative ways for matured entities to maximize exit options.

After nearly thirty years of advising the apparel industry, we know where companies should be headed and how to lead them there.

Employment, including AB 633 wage and hour claims

In the defense of wage and hour claims and joint liability issues, we have in-depth experience representing manufacturers and other corporate employers.

We represent both manufacturers and contractors in defense of AB 633 wage and hour claims. Apparel industry practice group attorneys are members of the California Fashion Association and have long-term relationships with, and experience before, state and federal labor regulatory agencies.

Our employment counsel also includes review of employment and compensation agreements, policies, procedures and manuals for compliance to state and federal regulations and with regard to future employer liabilities. Read more about our comprehensive employment counsel.

Copyrights and trademarks

We advise clients on the availability of a proposed copyright or trademark, assist through the registration process both domestically and internationally, and work to protect their intellectual property.

When clients need to prevent infringement of their copyrights and trademarks, we prosecute the violators on their behalf. We also defend clients in proceedings where they are alleged to infringe on the rights of others including before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) and in state and federal courts.


APPAREL INDUSTRY LAW REPRESENTATIVE MATTERS:

  • Aggressively stopped the infringement of a popular design and extended the commercial life of the print. We secured payment from the copyright violators and established future legal protections for our clients.
  • In an involuntary bankruptcy involving a nationally-known sportswear designer, apparel industry practice group attorneys partnered with our creditor’s rights practice group to enforce the measure. Our clients received almost 100 cents on the dollar while remaining creditors did not.
  • While representing the creditors’ committee in a matter involving a high-profile design company that was administratively insolvent, Ezra|Brutzkus|Gubner LLP attorneys turned the case around. We achieved a substantial distribution to creditors by aggressively pursuing lenders and insiders and creating licensing opportunities.
  • Achieved dismissal of charges of labor violations against a clothing manufacturer in a contractor’s wage and hour claim case.
  • Represent fashion industry in employment-related government proceedings through firm attorneys’ long-standing membership in California Fashion Association.
  • Devised a profitable exit plan for the owner of a piece goods company that added substantial value to a maturing business.
  • Successfully defended one jean manufacturer over the placement of a label and prosecuted another in a design appropriation case.
  • Represented a major Southern California apparel manufacturer while it was being acquired by a large U.S.-based multinational.
  • Sold a nationally recognized garment manufacturing company to a textile manufacturer and created a vertical organization with greater profit potential.