Client Services / Alcohol Beverages & Products / Permitting & Licensing - Alcohol Beverages & Products

Permitting & Licensing - Alcohol Beverages & Products

Our Alcohol Beverages and Products Group routinely advises and assists alcohol beverage companies and non-beverage alcohol producers in obtaining government licenses and permits, maintaining those approvals through ownership changes and reorganizations, and defending against threatened license and permit suspension and revocation actions by regulatory authorities.  At the federal level, we have extensive experience in the application process for basic permits, brewers’ notices and bonds.  We also handle state licensing matters for the supplier and retail tiers of the industry.  McDermott counsels clients on the impact of ownership changes on existing licenses and permits, and assists clients in obtaining government approval of changes that occur.  We possess extensive experience with non-traditional entities and arrangements, including alternating proprietorships, joint marketing entities, in-transit warehousing and electronic retailing.  Our group’s experience with alcohol beverage licensing and regulatory compliance is a valued resource for the Firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group .  Finally, we handle permit suspension and revocation proceedings before the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB), as well as state actions against license holders.

Representative Permitting and Licensing Experience in the Alcohol Area

  • Assist a global spirits company in complying with the federal and state licensing requirements applicable to its acquisition of a U.S.-based wine and spirits company.
  • Defend an international common carrier in state administrative proceedings alleging that the company’s inadvertent delivery of wine to an in-state consumer violated state law.
  • Counsel a joint venture on the regulatory aspects of establishing an innovative joint sales and marketing entity to promote the products of two large suppliers.
  • Obtain federal and state licenses for the purchaser of a large brewery in the extremely aggressive time schedule envisioned by the new owners, completing the complex licensing process in less than six weeks.
  • Assist two large retail chains in reorganizing their corporate structures while minimizing the restructuring’s impact on existing licenses and permits.
  • Establish a novel branch warehouse by negotiating a first-ever interpretation of state statutes and regulations to allow the licensee to operate non-contiguous licensed premises.

Contacts

Alcohol Beverages & Products Client Services

McDermott Will & Emery

McDermott Will and Emery