Greenspoon Marder Successfully Reverses Ruling To Allow Vendors of Alcoholic Beverages To Store Inventory In A Different County

Apr 27, 2020

Miami, FL – April 28, 2020 – Greenspoon Marder successfully represented MB Doral, LLC, d/b/a Martini Bar, a Miami-Dade County nightclub and food and alcohol beverage catering company, which was refused a permit by Florida’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages & Tobacco to store its alcohol beverage inventory outside Miami-Dade County at large open air events.

The firm initially appealed the denial to The State of Florida’s Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH), which agreed with the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco. Greenspoon Marder attorneys then appealed that decision to the First District Court of Appeal, and persuaded the Court that the long standing Florida Administrative Rule that the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco relied upon to deny the permit was invalid, and reversed the ruling of the DOAH administrative judge. Florida Administrative Rule 61A-4.020 had required vendors of alcoholic beverages to store their inventory in the same county that they sell to the public. In a unanimous opinion, the Court held that the challenged Rule “improperly enlarged, modified or contravened” statutory law and could not stand.

“It is no easy task to reverse a DOAH judge and at the same time invalidate a Rule by convincing an appellate court that a requirement that has been part of the beverage law for over 40 years, should never have existed,” said Louis J. Terminello, Chair of Greenspoon Marder’s Hospitality, Alcohol & Leisure Industry Group.

The Greenspoon Marder team was led by Louis J. Terminello and senior counsel Michael Martinez.

About Greenspoon Marder

Greenspoon Marder LLP is a full-service law firm with over 225 attorneys and more than 20 office locations across the United States. With operations from Miami to New York and from Denver to Los Angeles, our firm attracts some of the nation’s top talent in key markets and innovation hubs. Our core practice areas include Real Estate, Litigation, and Transactional Services, complemented by the capabilities of a full-service firm. Greenspoon Marder has maintained a spot on The American Lawyer’s Am Law 200 as one of the top law firms in the U.S. since 2015, and our goal is to provide exceptional client service by developing a thorough understanding of each client’s business needs and objectives in order to provide strategic, cost-effective solutions.

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Greenspoon Marder Successfully Reverses Ruling To Allow Vendors of Alcoholic Beverages To Store Inventory In A Different County

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