For our next Trailblazer, we sit down with Rick Collins, Esq., a lawyer dedicated to the nutrition and fitness community. He is a partner at Collins Gann McCloskey & Barry PLLC, based on Long Island, and an internationally recognized legal authority on sports nutrition, dietary supplements, and physical enhancement substances. Rick represents numerous companies in the natural products industry and has lectured on supplement regulations and sports nutrition legalities in the U.S., Canada, China, and Thailand.
He is admitted to practice in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Texas, the District of Columbia, and various federal courts. Rick serves as General Counsel to the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) and is the legal advisor to the Pro League of the International Federation of BodyBuilders. A Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA-CSCS), former personal trainer, and competitive bodybuilder, Rick co-authored Alpha Male Challenge, an exercise and nutrition book, and has contributed to textbooks, position papers, and fitness publications. For over 20 years, he was a monthly columnist for a nationally circulated fitness magazine.
Can you share an example of a bold risk you took in your career that paid off?
R.C: My partners thought I was crazy when I told them I wanted to build a niche law practice in the fitness lifestyle space. My background was as a prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer, which is a standard career path transition. Refocusing my practice towards sports nutrition, dietary supplements, and performance enhancing chemicals few people had ever even heard of meant forging into uncharted territory. But it made sense to me. Outside my professional training and experience, I’ve had a longstanding personal commitment to exercise and nutrition. I had been the day manager in a gym while I was in college. Later I was a partner in a personal training business and became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (NSCA-CSCS).
I coauthored a men’s diet and exercise book. So, the idea of merging my vocation with my avocation was organic and exciting to me. Luckily, the timing was right. The same year that I launched my private practice was the year that the U.S. Congress scheduled anabolic steroids as Schedule III controlled substances. In the decade that followed, some sports nutrition brands used a loophole in the law to market steroidal precursors as dietary supplements. As Government agencies began targeting these noncompliant “prohormone” products, my legal background combined with my knowledge of nutritional ingredients made me a “go to” for brands in trouble. I’ve dealt with matters in around 40 different federal courthouses. Over the years, my focus has broadened to help natural product marketers with a wide spectrum of legal problems and crises. I enjoy helping clients nationwide and couldn’t be happier to do what I do.
How do you balance the need for innovation with the responsibility of ensuring consumer trust and safety?
R.C: That’s something that brands need to think about all the time. Those who don’t, unfortunately, contribute to the pervasive false narrative that the supplement market is “unregulated.” Most supplement products comply with the definition of a “dietary ingredient.” However, non-compliant ingredients can sometimes appear, rendering the products adulterated, misbranded, and categorized as “unapproved drugs.” Although critics will focus on FDA’s inconsistent enforcement efforts, the agency has the authority to commence civil lawsuits, seize products, seek injunctions, and even spearhead criminal indictments through the Department of Justice. And they have done so.
For example, DMAA, a stimulant ingredient also known as 1,3-dimethylamylamine, became the focus of protracted civil litigation. Tianeptine, a “nootropic” marketed to enhance mood, energy or cognition, was targeted due to its addictive potential; one trafficker was recently sentenced to two years in federal prison. FDA has also filed criminal felony charges against marketers selling “SARMs” (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, a group of synthetic chemicals with purported muscle-building properties) unlawfully as dietary supplements. The point is that innovation is an important way to differentiate your brand from competitors, but ensuring compliance is paramount. Get good legal advice before you innovate. Lapses can erode consumer trust and safety, negatively impacting the perception of the whole industry.
What’s a lesson you’ve learned from a completely different industry that has helped you in your work?
R.C: I have been in the bodybuilding world for over 45 years. There’s no doubt that I’m a better lawyer for having been a competitive bodybuilder. Bodybuilding taught me lessons that fueled the success of my law firm and the many other ventures I’ve undertaken, and it played a role in my courtroom accomplishments as well. Top takeaways:
- BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. Less than two years before my first bodybuilding competition, I was a passenger in a terrible car accident and the doctors said I would never lift weights again. They were wrong. I defied their predictions and went on to win bodybuilding accolades and to lift heavier than ever. Believe in yourself, not the naysayers.
- PREPARE TO WIN. Litigation is all about preparation, as I also learned from bodybuilding competition. Details matter. Leave nothing to chance. Know your strengths but don’t overlook the weak points – extra attention can turn them into assets.
- FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCTS. Training for competition develops an instinct for what works for your body. You learn what’s right for you. If you follow your instincts in life, you’ll often make the choices that work out in the end. As you gain more and more experience, don’t be afraid to go with your gut.