In Polk, the plaintiff sued the defendants to obtain his ownership and profits from a cannabis growing business they had allegedly started together. When they started the business under Washington state’s newly enacted recreational marijuana laws back in 2013, the plaintiff could not disclose his ownership in the business given his criminal history and restrictions on obtaining a license with such a history. Plaintiff alleges the parties initially agreed to a 30/30% split between plaintiff…

It’s rare to see textbook examples of the application of legal principles, even less common for Illinois liquor lawyers must be the application to a scenario that could impact a bar, brewpub, taproom, tasting room, or restaurant. The issue in Witcher v. 1104 Madison St. Restaurant d/b/a Plush Chicago involved a Chicago restaurant/lounge’s duty in tort law to protect its patrons from criminal acts committed by third parties (note: this is not about dram shop…

A three judge panel of the 5th Circuit ended Walmart’s recent Commerce Clause triumph. Overturning and remanding for further fact-finding, the district court’s finding that a Texas ban on public companies owning liquor stores was enacted with a discriminatory intent meant to keep out-of-state interests from holding in-state liquor licenses. You can read the full opinion here.  Walmart has requested a rehearing en banc and the Texas Liquor Store lobbying group looking to protect…

A mischaracterization of what a Michigan statute regulates and what rights of a winery/cidery it impacts created a disappointing result for Michigan winery/cidery arguing that federal law allowing for bonded transfer of wine and cider preempted the state’s restrictions on the winery/cidery’s acceptance of wine and cider in bond for eventual sale to consumers. We initially covered this case when it was filed back in July. You can read that entry here for the background …

In a blow against some restrictive trade practice regulations Washington’s Court of Appeals recently struck several rules of the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board as overly broad and unsupported by the state’s liquor statute. The background for the challenge was the 2012 amendment to Washington’s liquor laws which ended the state’s monopoly on the sale of liquor. The enacting legislation started with the following noble intent statement: The people of the state of Washington,…