Welcome to the Alcoholic Beverages Law Blog!

The Stoel Rives Alcohol Beverage Blog provides wineries, breweries, distilleries, cideries, distributors and importers with articles and information across a broad spectrum of state and federal alcohol beverage law. The authors work on alcohol beverage related projects from our bases in California, Oregon and Washington, throughout the Western United States and beyond. Our blog lets us share with you our passion for and experience with key legal, business and regulatory issues. Our blog will not only share the latest developments in these areas, but help you apply them to manage your business successfully.

We look forward to sparking a lively discussion about the industry nationally and internationally and its ever growing array of intriguing products.

Thank you for your interest. We hope you enjoy Alcohol Beverage Law!

Todd Friedman practices business law, focusing on advising entrepreneurial, emerging, growing and established companies with respect to business formation and structuring, commercial contracting, debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, and real property matters. He has represented clients in industries including: food and agribusiness; wine, beer and spirits; restaurant and hospitality; technology; branded consumer products; and creative services. Todd is co-chair of the firm’s Beverage and Hospitality initiative.

Nicole Hancock is the Boise Office Managing Partner and a trial attorney who handles complex business litigation matters in federal and state court. Nicole is a business-savvy trial attorney, having served as in-house counsel for a global seed company and as lead trial counsel in state and federal court matters. She is focused on her clients’ business needs and works to find solutions that meet their business goals. In addition to her litigation work, Nicole serves as outside general counsel for mid-sized companies, using her prior experience as in-house counsel to provide legal services that mitigate against corporate risk and exposure. Nicole uses her business and courtroom experience to develop and implement winning legal strategies that are efficient and help achieve her clients’ desired outcomes.

Susan M. Johnson focuses her practice on issues facing the food, beverage and hospitality industries. She counsels beer, wine and spirits producers; retail store, restaurant and hotel chains; sports and entertainment facilities; cruise ship lines; and contract food service management companies on liquor licensing, sales, distribution, advertising, administrative violation defense and regulatory matters related to changes in corporate ownership and governance. Susan also works directly with industry associations, in-house counsel and other law firms on complex transactions, litigation consultation and legislative initiatives involving alcoholic beverage issues. Susan is co-chair of the Stoel Rives Food, Beverage & Hospitality group. Since 2014, she has been listed by Chambers USA as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” (Nationwide) in the Food & Beverages: Alcohol practice area.

Claire Mitchell guides retail and non-retail food and beverage alcohol businesses through the complexities of state and federal regulation, finding thoughtful solutions to both legal and business challenges. Clients such as grocers, restaurants, hotel operators, e-commerce retailers, entertainment venues, alcohol brand owners, and beer, wine, and spirits producers seek Claire’s counsel on state and federal liquor licensing strategies, tied house compliance, trade practice regulation, promotional advertising and sponsorship assessments, and contract negotiation. Claire makes it a priority to build strong connections with state and federal regulators, consultants, and trade associations and leverages that network of relationships to help clients overcome regulatory obstacles.

Bradley Prowant is an associate in Stoel Rives’ Litigation Group. Bradley represents an array of clients in all aspects of complex commercial litigation and appellate advocacy in state and federal jurisdictions throughout the United States.

Bradley’s practice covers a broad range of industries including energy, food and beverage, medical devices, real estate, and technology. In particular, Bradley has extensive experience representing sophisticated business clients facing claims of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, defamation, fraud, and tortious interference. Additionally, Bradley has capacious commercial litigation experience with product liability and insurance disputes. Bradley is also developing a practice in the beverage industry and looks forward to providing sensible counsel for future clients facing tied-house, trade practice, advertising, sponsorship, or other industry related issues.

Jeremy Sacks is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group, chair of the firm’s Energy Litigation Initiative, and chair of the Portland office Trial group. His practice focuses on complex litigation in a variety of businesses, including the energy and health care industries. He has experience litigating business torts, contract disputes, securities fraud, False Claims Act issues, shareholder disputes, class actions, licensing disputes, and antitrust claims. Jeremy also has substantial experience conducting internal corporate investigations and handling export and import matters. He has represented individual and corporate clients, both regional and national, in a variety of private, state and federal forums.

Allison Smith focuses her practice in environmental and energy law. Her experience includes CEQA and land use litigation, conducting environmental due diligence, and permitting solar, wind, biomass, geothermal and gas-fired energy facilities. Allison also counsels companies on federal and state air quality and greenhouse gas regulations.

Jenny Baer Tuohy represents companies in corporate transactions and also provides general legal advice. She advises private companies throughout their lifecycle on business formation, venture capital financings, private placements, debt offerings, and mergers and acquisitions. She also has experience with initial public offerings and providing ongoing outside counsel advice to public companies. She has experience representing clients in a wide variety of industries including tech, food and beverage, healthcare, and manufacturing, and she enjoys helping her clients find legal solutions that let them better realize their business and community goals.