Terms, Privacy & Returns
Terms of service, privacy policy, cookie consent, returns and refunds, subscription billing language, dispute and arbitration clauses, and the consumer-facing paper your payment processor and ad platforms expect to see.
Industry · E-Commerce & Retail
Counsel for brands that live inside other people's platforms.
Selling online means you operate inside Shopify, Amazon, Meta, Stripe, and the rule books of fifty different state revenue departments. We give Austin DTC brands and online retailers the legal architecture to grow — and the firepower when a platform turns on you.
Austin · E-Commerce
The Operating Reality
Your store is a contract. So is every channel.
An online brand is not really one business. It is your website, governed by your terms and privacy policy. It is your Amazon listings, governed by Amazon's seller agreement and Brand Registry rules. It is your Etsy or Shopify presence, your payment processor agreement, your fulfillment provider contract, and the ad platforms whose policy teams can revoke your account on twelve hours' notice.
When something goes wrong — a competitor files a bogus IP claim, a payment processor freezes your account heading into Q4, a state revenue department sends a nexus notice — there is no general counsel down the hall. Our job is to be the lawyer who knows the platform rules, knows the regulator, and can move fast enough that your sales day does not end.
We have helped Austin DTC brands restore Amazon listings, build out FTC-compliant influencer programs, negotiate enterprise wholesale deals, and untangle multi-state sales-tax exposure that had been quietly compounding for years.
Six Legal Needs We See Every Week
What online brands actually need from counsel.
The legal work that moves the P&L for e-commerce operators — not the abstract risk register.
FTC Advertising & Endorsements
Influencer and affiliate disclosure programs, claims substantiation, MAP policies, made-in-USA and origin claims, review-platform compliance, and the operational guardrails your marketing team can actually live with.
Trademark Filings & Brand Enforcement
USPTO clearance and filing, Brand Registry enrollment, copycat takedowns across Amazon, Etsy, Shopify, and TikTok Shop, customs recordation, and the demand-letter strategy that resolves most disputes without litigation.
Platform Disputes & Takedowns
Amazon listing reinstatement, counter-notices under the DMCA and Brand Registry, account suspension response, Etsy and Shopify policy disputes, payment processor reserves and freezes, and the appeals strategy that platforms actually respond to.
Sales-Tax Nexus & Multi-State
Economic nexus mapping post-Wayfair, marketplace facilitator analysis for Amazon and Etsy revenue, registration in the states that actually matter, sales-tax engine selection, voluntary disclosure agreements for back-period exposure.
International Shipping & Wholesale
DDP vs DDU terms, Incoterms in wholesale deals, customs and duty allocation, prohibited products, distributor and wholesale agreements, retailer chargeback language, and the cross-border privacy obligations that follow your customer list.
Where We Plug In
Services that map to an online brand's reality.
E-commerce clients typically engage us across several of the following practice areas — and often on short notice when a platform issue escalates.
Common Scenarios
Real situations we walk brands through.
The bogus IP complaint in Q4.
An Austin home-goods brand had its top-grossing ASIN suspended on November 12 over a meritless trademark complaint from a foreign reseller. We filed a counter-notice with proof of senior rights, ran a parallel demand letter to the complainant, and escalated within Brand Registry — listing restored in 19 days, in time for Black Friday.
The influencer program nobody disclosed.
A DTC beauty brand had been paying micro-influencers for two years with no disclosure infrastructure. We rebuilt the influencer agreement, created an in-feed disclosure standard, layered in claims substantiation review, and trained the marketing team — closing the most acute FTC exposure without slowing the program.
The nexus surprise.
A Shopify-first apparel brand received a notice from California demanding three years of unfiled sales tax. We separated marketplace facilitator volume from direct sales, narrowed the period actually owed, negotiated a voluntary disclosure agreement, and onboarded a tax engine — converting a multi-year unknown into a fixed, manageable liability.
Related Case Study
Amazon takedown reversal plus federal trademark registration.
How we restored a suspended Q4 listing for an Austin DTC seller in 19 days, secured federal registration of the brand, and ended the underlying dispute without a settlement payment.
Case Study · E-Commerce
Founder FAQ
Questions online brands ask most weeks.
Do I actually need a privacy policy?
In practical terms, yes. Most state privacy laws — including the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, California, Colorado, Virginia, and several others — require a privacy notice if you collect personal data from residents of those states, which any consumer-facing online store will. The major ad and payment platforms also require one. The right question is not whether you need one, but whether yours actually reflects what your site, your pixels, and your vendors are doing.
How do I fight an Amazon takedown?
Speed matters. Amazon's IP complaint and counter-notice process is documentary and unforgiving — the listings that come back fastest are usually those where counsel responds within 48 hours with proof of rights, a clean retraction request to the complainant, and an escalation path within Amazon Brand Registry. If the complaint is meritless, the most effective lever is often a demand letter to the complainant tied to a Brand Registry escalation. Litigation is the last resort, not the first.
What are the FTC endorsement rules?
The FTC Endorsement Guides require clear and conspicuous disclosure of any material connection — paid, gifted, affiliate, employee, or otherwise — between an endorser and the brand. Disclosures must be in the post itself, in plain language, not buried in profile bios or hashtags. The brand is responsible for educating endorsers and monitoring compliance. We help DTC brands build an influencer and affiliate compliance program that is realistic to operate at scale.
Do I have to collect sales tax in every state I ship to?
Following the Wayfair decision, most states impose economic nexus thresholds — commonly $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions into the state in a year — that trigger a registration and collection obligation regardless of physical presence. Marketplace facilitator laws shift the obligation onto Amazon, Etsy, and similar platforms for sales made through them, but your direct site sales remain yours. We help DTC brands map nexus, choose a tax engine, and stay current as thresholds change.
Platform problem, trademark issue, or quiet exposure? Let's get ahead of it.
Most e-commerce legal problems are solvable when caught early and expensive when caught late. We will give you a straight read in one call.