Wendy M. Yoviene

Bar Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Florida
• Pennsylvania
• Virginia

Court Admissions

• Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of Virginia
• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
• United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin
• United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• United States Supreme Court

Education

• University of Virginia School of Law (J.D., 1997)
  Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law, Editorial Board
• University of Virginia (B.A., 1992)

Wendy M. Yoviene

Experience

Wendy M. Yoviene is a principal in Ober|Kaler's Litigation and Food and Agriculture Groups. Wendy serves as outside general counsel for business and trade association clients and is one of the firm’s experienced federal court litigators.

Wendy combines her decade-plus experience interfacing with state and federal agencies and legislatures with her litigation savvy to identify and bring about practical solutions for business problems in a highly regulated environment. Wendy also provides her clients with business advice and antitrust counseling and handles high stakes, complex litigation matters, including business disputes, administrative proceedings, Commerce Clause, Preemption, First Amendment and Class Action defense litigation, as well as hospital-physician peer review proceedings.

Among others, Wendy represents numerous food and agriculture clients before state and federal agencies and in the litigation that arises out of such proceedings. She represents processor and producer groups in proceedings before the Food and Drug Administration, the United States Department of Agriculture and various state agencies. She has obtained numerous agency rulings and has successfully defended them in court. Wendy is also well-versed in other agriculture regulatory programs, including the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA); the National Organic Program; and food labeling issues such as those related to artificial growth hormones and cloning, food safety and standards of identity. In addition, Wendy serves as regulatory counsel for food and agriculture clients in mergers and acquisitions.

Representative Cases

- Obtained preliminary injunction on dormant commerce clause grounds against the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board’s new regulation changing the method of calculating and distributing the Pennsylvania mandated premium for raw milk. Fair Oaks Farm et al. v. Kriebel et al., M.D. PA 10-1591, slip opinion, (September 16, 2010)

- Intervened on behalf of the Pennsylvania Association of Milk Dealers in support of a decision by the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board not to extend its over-order premium pricing program to reach milk distributed in adjoining states and that decision was upheld on appeal. DairyLea et al. v. Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board et al., Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, slip opinion (August 6, 2010)

- Reversed a U.S. District Court summary judgment granted against client resulting in summary judgment in favor of client on critical First Amendment commercial speech issues; case was remanded to district court for final decision on the merits. The case settled after remand with Ohio withdrawing the offending regulation entirely. Int'l Dairy Foods Ass'n v. Boggs, 622 F.3d 628 (6th Cir. 2010)

- Obtained U.S. District Court dismissal on filed rate doctrine grounds of nationwide class action alleging damages from purported improper reporting of end-product prices used by the United States Department of Agriculture to establish federal minimum prices payable to dairy farmers. Carlin, et al. v. DairyAmerica, Inc. et al., 690 F.Supp.2d 11 (E.D. Cal. 2010), appeal pending Case No. 10-16448 (9th Cir. Oral Argument August 31, 2011)

- Intervened in support of regulations adopted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which were alleged to restrict access to the fluid milk market, but which were upheld on procedural and substantive grounds. White Eagle v. Conner, 553 F.3d 467 (7th Cir. 2009)

- Obtained affirmance on appeal following the successful defense of the Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Law against dormant Commerce Clause claims following a six-day bench trial. Cloverland-Greenspring v. Pennsylvania Milk Marketing Board, 462 F. 3d 249 (3d Cir. 2006)

- Prevailed in dormant commerce case brought by Nevada farmers against the California Department of Food & Agriculture; CDFA had obtained dismissal of case on grounds that Congress consented to exemption from dormant commerce clause analysis. Obtained merits decision in favor of plaintiffs on remand. Hillside Dairy et al. v. Lyons, 539 U.S. 59 (2003)

- Obtained injunction on preemption and dormant Commerce Clause grounds against Kentucky’s embargo of California nursery products already subject to United States Department of Agriculture quarantine rules. California Association of Nursery Growers v. Farmer, No. 04-38-JMH (E.D. Ky. 2004)

Professional Memberships

• Agriculture Law Association
• American Bar Association
  • Section on Administrative Law
  • Section on Litigation