Client Services / Alcohol Beverages & Products

Alcohol Beverages & Products

Our Alcohol Beverages and Products Group represents clients in federal, state and international matters concerning the licensing, production, taxation, transportation, distribution, labeling, advertising and marketing of alcohol beverages and non-beverage and industrial alcohol products.  The group combines the skill of professionals who dedicate their full-time practice to alcohol regulatory and distribution matters with the resource of dozens of top practitioners in almost every major legal field (corporate, intellectual property, tax, litigation, etc.) who possess substantial experience representing alcohol beverage companies in their respective areas.  This broad and deep knowledge makes us the first-choice law firm for many of the biggest names in the alcohol beverage industry.  Click on the links below to learn more about our capabilities.  Our extensive work with high-stakes issues for major suppliers places a great deal of experience at our disposal.  This experience allows us to effectively and efficiently advise all our clients, from the largest companies to start-ups.

The Alcohol Beverages and Products Group includes a core of professionals in Washington, D.C., and Palo Alto, California, who dedicate their entire practice to alcohol regulatory and distribution matters.  On regulatory matters, our lawyers and staff are very active at the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB), formerly the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and are involved with the control authorities in almost every state.   Our regulatory experience includes licensing and permitting, advertising, labeling, trade practices, product formulation, excise taxation and regulatory development.  McDermott lawyers also have extensive experience with the regulation of alcohol beverages by U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP), formerly the Customs Service, and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).  Additionally, we possess a deep understanding of the regulation and distribution of alcohol for non-beverage uses, such as flavor, extract and soft drink concentrate production; fuel alcohol (ethanol); hospital and laboratory uses; and alcohol for industrial purposes..

The group’s distribution practice represents supplier-tier companies in all aspects of alcohol beverage distribution.  On the counseling side, McDermott advises companies on structuring distribution systems, distribution contracting, e-commerce and import/export issues.  When disputes arise, our extensive industry experience and the resources of the Firm’s Distribution Practices and Strategies Group and Trial Department allow McDermott to deploy litigators with alcohol beverage distribution litigation experience from our Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., offices.  We have engaged in distribution litigation in virtually all the largest U.S. state markets, and many smaller ones as well.

The group also includes practitioners from many McDermott departments, who have developed a knowledge of the alcohol beverage industry by representing alcohol beverage clients for many years. 

  • Our Antitrust and Competition Group has developed a deep cross-border understanding of the alcohol beverage industry, representing companies on both sides of the Atlantic in merger and acquisition activity, government investigations and litigation.
  • The Firm’s Corporate Department has handled many mergers and acquisitions involving supplier- and retail-tier companies, from news-making mega-mergers to modest private equity transactions.  The Corporate Department also provides corporate governance and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) advice to several of the industry’s biggest players.
  • Our Intellectual Property, Media and Technology Department is a go-to trademark and patent prosecution firm for several of the industry’s largest brand owners, and has helped defend some of the most famous trademarks in the business.
  • Our OSHA Group is familiar with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) implications of alcohol beverage manufacturing operations, serving as OSHA counsel to a major alcohol beverage supplier trade association, and having represented a large distiller in OSHA proceedings following a significant spirits-fueled warehouse fire.
  • The Tax Department advises alcohol beverage clients on transfer pricing issues, assists our Corporate Department in industry merger and acquisition activity, and has planned and executed corporate reorganizations for some of the industry’s biggest names.
  • McDermott’s Trial Department, in addition to its extensive experience with distribution litigation, has represented alcohol beverage companies in a variety of commercial litigations and regularly counsels alcohol beverage companies on product liability and class action issues.

Contacts

Alcohol Beverages & Products Client Services

McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will and Emery