Protests, Accusations, and Administrative Proceedings
Our litigation services are limited to hearings and appeals of license protests, trade practice violations, and disciplinary accusation proceedings commenced by TTB, ABC and other agencies (including police departments and local planning commissions) with jurisdiction over industry members. When a client's license application is protested, we aggressively pursue mediation and other alternative dispute resolution strategies to resolve the protest before hearing. Often this enables our clients to operate with fewer conditions and helps build positive relations with neighbors, local police, and government agencies. Our accusation defense practice is sophisticated and diverse. We have been representing clients before TTB, ABC, the ABC Appeals Board, the District Court of Appeal, and the California Supreme Court for over 20 years.
We have:
- Successfully defended the first sale-to-minor cases in California, including victory before the California Supreme Court (which resulted in the adoption of ABC Rule 141). Since then, we have represented licensees in hundreds of decoy cases, often through appeal to the ABC Appeals Board.
- Successfully defended a revocation action against a restaurant and historic bar based on the alleged sale of alcohol to a minor patron killed in a tragic automobile accident.
- Successfully defended pending off-sale and on-sale licenses against 224 protestors in San Francisco, 160 protestors in San Mateo, and 48 protestors in San Diego.
- Successfully defended a hotel chain accused of making its premises available to groups whose functions involved alleged improper conduct.
Contacts: John Hinman and Beth Aboulafia
