Hospitality Law Blog

From Expansion to Strategy: Navigating the Next Phase of the Bourbon Industry

Over the past month, Kentucky has hosted several gatherings that brought together some of the most influential voices in the bourbon industry. 

Events like DISCUS, the Jim Beam Institute Conference, and most recently Bourbonomics in Louisville have created an opportunity for leaders across distilling, hospitality, tourism, and business to reflect on where the industry is headed. 

At Bourbonomics, I was asked a question that I think captures the moment the industry is in right now.  More >

From Barrel to Brand: When Legal Strategy Fuels Growth

Most distilleries think about law in terms of compliance.
Permits. Labels. Distribution. Avoiding risk. 

But when legal strategy becomes part of the business strategy, something powerful happens.

Instead of asking, “How do we stay out of trouble?”
The better question becomes: What becomes possible? 

Thinking of a strong legal strategy as a key ingredient to a winning recipe helps distilleries optimize intellectual property. When intellectual property counsel can work closely with a business from the start, counsel is able to learn more about the business and its goals. This collaboration can result in the  development of stronger, more enforceable marks, clear trademark and copyright portfolios, and robust intellectual property agreements protecting those intellectual property assets. 

Early collaboration between intellectual property counsel and business helps guide the business’s decision-making process in a way that is legally sound, reducing risk and increasing momentum for brand expansion. This may mean ensuring that client’s own all the intellectual property in work for hire agreements, crafting policies to protect company brands, and formulating terms and conditions governing the use of company marks or even website terms and conditions of use. Working closely with intellectual property counsel ensures that as your bourbon ages to perfection, so does your IP. More >

Tobacco Retailers: URGENT Licensing Action Needed

The 2025 Kentucky legislative session saw the General Assembly enact Senate Bill 100, which requires retailers selling tobacco, nicotine, and vapor products to hold a tobacco-specific permit, effective January 1, 2026.  More >

New KY Laws Bring Codified Private Barrel Selections, Satellite Tasting Rooms, and Lower Age for Alcohol-Related Jobs

As the 2022 Kentucky legislative session has come to a close, it’s time to review the new laws that emerged in Frankfort. For those in the alcoholic beverage industry, the most significant of these is HB 500, which contains several significant advances for distillers. Among these are the standardization and legalization of private barrel selection events and the opportunity for distilleries to establish satellite tasting rooms, two steps to promote bourbon tourism in the commonwealth. More >

Kentucky General Assembly Makes Cocktails-To-Go Privileges Permanent

One of the many pandemic-inspired ad hoc measures enacted last year to support restaurants and provide much needed merriment for beleaguered patrons has now become a permanent feature of Kentucky law – the cocktail-to-go. SB 67 was signed into law by Kentucky Gov. Beshear on March 15^th featuring an emergency clause thereby rendering it immediately effective. More >

Alcohol Producers, Take Note: Direct To Consumer Sales and Shipping Privileges Enhanced

On February 26^th, the Kentucky House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation that significantly enhances and expands in-state and out-of-state manufacturers’ ability to directly ship their products in and out of Kentucky. The legislation quickly passed the Kentucky Senate and was signed into law by Governor Andy Beshear on March 11^th.  Because the bill contains an emergency clause, nearly all its provisions became effective immediately upon the Governor’s signing. More >

Restaurants Have Their Own Set of Healthy at Work Requirements

The Healthy at Work phase of reopening Kentucky businesses gained steam over the past couple of weeks with restaurants scheduled opening for dine-in customers on May 22, 2020. Restaurants must adhere to a set of industry specific guidelines provided by Governor Andy Beshear in addition to a set of minimum requirements which applies to most businesses in Kentucky. The Kentucky ABC also provided updated guidance to clarify that it is still allowing for restaurants to provide alcohol with curbside service, delivery, and carry-out, since restaurants will not be operating at full capacity. More >

ALERT: Supreme Court Strikes Down Tennessee Residency Requirements in Alcohol Licensing

In a move sure to have a profound effect on state regulation of alcohol sales and distribution, the United States Supreme Court has issued an opinion in Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas that strikes down Tennessee’s two-year in-state residency requirement for initial applicants for state liquor licenses. More >

Three BIG Legal Issues for Restaurateurs to Keep from Boiling Over

You have been perfecting your recipes for years, laboriously working over a hot stove and making sure every bit is seasoned, simmered, sautéed, and served to utmost perfection. Your passion is now your business, and your business…well, let’s just say that the chicken isn’t the only thing in your restaurant that can be dangerous when not fully cooked. You’ve trained to be a chef, but you never knew just how complicated running a business could be. Licenses and inspections to set up were tough, but keeping a restaurant running comes with its own buffet of issues.

Relax…let us set before you a three-course meal of legal issues that are specific to the restaurant industry. Think of these as a recipe for making something savory. Let’s dig in! More >

Getting More Green from Your Farm: Agritourism

For many Kentuckians, farming is a way of life handed down through generations. It’s not just an occupation, but a family calling. In recent years, however, farm margins have been squeezed as operational expenses continue to rise. Kentucky farm revenues have bounced back from a downturn in 2016, but that income sits lower than it did earlier in the decade. Farmers are scrambling to recover lost revenue as commodity prices stagnate, but there may be way to bring more revenue from a farm without producing any more crops or livestock: agritourism. More >