Bob Durkin Appointment to Co-Chair Food & Drug Practice Highlighted in Law360

Bob Durkin was featured in Law360 on July 25, 2023, following his appointment to serve as co-chair of the Food & Drug practice alongside co-chair Alan Minsk.

Bob, who served 12 years in various roles with the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) before joining AGG in 2019, told Law360 that his goals are “to build on AGG’s longstanding reputation for well thought out advice to our clients, certainly in drugs and devices, and to expand that further into food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, dietary ingredients, and food articles.”

Alan added that the firm tapped Bob to help lead “because our practice is growing” and because of the value their combined experience brings to clients. Bob’s practice focuses on food, over-the-counter drugs, compounding and cannabis, while Alan focuses on prescription drugs and medical devices.

“Our work and styles are complementary, and we get along very well,” Alan said. “It was a natural and obvious decision.”

“[Alan has] been a fixture here at AGG and a fixture in the community,” Bob added. “I’m coming in on some great coattails. He has a great reputation. Clients love him. He has a very loyal client base that he’s been introducing me to. I’m hoping to help support his drug and device program, while at the same time helping to develop a really good food and cosmetic program.”

Looking back toward his initial transition from working with FDA to joining AGG to work on behalf of the clients that FDA oversees, Bob said, “I enjoy being on the other side now where I can help good players, players with innovative products, players that want to do the right thing but do it in a business-smart way. I really do enjoy helping bring my background from the agency and science together with the law to help clients of all sizes bring their product, whether it’s a good idea and they want to start in the market, or whether they’ve been in the market for a while and maybe they need some compliance or enforcement help.”

Bob also shared insight on his own practice and issues the firm is watching for clients in the food and drug space. “I help an awful lot of clients now when they’re coming into a compliance or enforcement issue with the agency; the agency just inspected them, the agency sent them a warning letter, the agency just seized their goods or wants to negotiate a consent decree,” Bob said. “I get involved in all these enforcement activities, because I’ve worked on them from the inside and know what the agency needs to do to make that situation right, and I can help clients navigate that in a business-friendly way.”

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