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Michael Jordan

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Michael Jordan is an associate in Troutman Pepper's Richmond office. Michael draws on a diverse range of experiences in government and private practice to help clients navigate complex regulatory issues. He focuses primarily on heavily regulated industries, such as tobacco and cannabis.

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Bryan Haynes, Agustin Rodriguez, Michael Jordan, and Zie Alere of the Troutman Pepper Locke Tobacco + Nicotine team will sponsor and attend the Food and Drug Law Institute Tobacco and Nicotine Products Regulation and Policy Conference in Washington, D.C., on October 6 and 7.

This is a key annual conference on regulating tobacco and nicotine products in the United States. It will feature influential stakeholders from a diverse range of backgrounds—public health leaders, researchers, manufacturers, attorneys, consumer advocates, entrepreneurs, and federal and state regulators.

This article was originally published on Law360 and is republished here with permission as it originally appeared on August 21, 2026.

On July 30, two federal appeals courts permitted the enforcement of state laws in Iowa and North Carolina conditioning the sale of electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS, on a manufacturer’s certification of compliance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration premarket review requirements.[1]

In June, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida made public an order that stayed a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) refuse to file (RTF) determination, finding that the FDA likely violated the Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) when it promulgated its 2021 PMTA rule based on a small-business certification that the court described as “facially false.” The RTF letter is stayed pending final judgment.

On April 14, Iowa Attorney General (AG) Brenna Bird, leading a coalition of 13 state AGs, sent a pointed letter to Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. Their message was clear: payment networks are expected to help shut down the U.S. market for unauthorized e‑cigarette products.

For financial services institutions that support e-cigarette merchants — card networks, sponsor banks, acquirers, independent sales organizations (ISOs), payment service providers (PSPs), and platforms — this letter is the latest signal of increased regulatory and enforcement risk for financial services companies that provide services to sellers of unauthorized e-cigarette products.

California recently finalized changes to its Proposition 65 (Prop 65) warning rules that included significant changes to short-form warning statements for product labels. These changes directly affect nicotine‑containing products — including e‑cigarettes, e‑liquids, oral nicotine products, and other consumer goods that can expose consumers to nicotine.

On October 27, FDA appealed a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia that vacated the agency’s 2020 rule requiring graphic health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements.  This appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals to the Eleventh Circuit, along with a separate challenge pending before the Fifth Circuit, may determine whether FDA’s second attempt to impose graphic health warnings on cigarettes will be successful.[1]

On September 22, a group of 28 state AGs led by Iowa filed an amicus brief in Vapor Technology Association v. Wooten in support of North Carolina’s state directory law that prohibits the sale of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) products or e-cigarettes that lack Food and Drug Administration (FDA) marketing authorization.  According to the brief, 15 states have already enacted laws similar to North Carolina’s ENDS directory law, and another 25 states are considering such legislation.

Michael Jordan joined the “Product Compliance” panel at the Food & Drug Law Institute’s (FDLI) Introduction to Tobacco and Nicotine Law and Regulation course on October 8. The panel covered topics such as labeling and warning requirements, product registration and ingredient submission, user fees and tobacco taxation, marketing and advertising…