Richard M Blau

Practice Areas

Alcohol Beverage; Cannabis Industry; Residential, Resort and Club, Restaurant; Litigation; Food Law; Hospitality International

Professional Memberships

● American Bar Association, Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (1987 –Present); ABA Committee on Beverage Alcohol Practice, Vice Chairman, 1996-2000; Chairman, 2001-2007); ● ABA Advisor, Uniform Law Commission’s Alcohol Direct Shipping Compliance Act Committee (2020 – Present); ● The American Law Institute (Elected Member, 1995 - Present); ● The National Conference of State Liquor Administrators (Industry Member, 1989 – Present; Executive Committee Member 2006; NCSLA Hall of Fame Inductee 2018); ● The National Alcohol Beverage Control Association (Industry Member, 2001 – Present); ● The Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys (Elected Member, 2001 - Present; Member, Board of Directors, 2013-2016); ● Craft Beverage Lawyers Guild (Founding Member 2017).

Experience

Richard presides over GrayRobinson’s regulated products practice and oversees the firm’s legal guidance, compliance, and support services for the alcohol beverage, cannabis, food, and tobacco products industries. Richard and his colleagues focus on the rules, regulations, and business practices governing the marketing, sale, and consumption of distilled spirits, wine, beer, and other licensed beverages.

As a trial lawyer with over 30 years of experience, Richard has litigated jury and bench trials in state and federal courts. In the area of alcohol beverage regulation, he successfully litigated on behalf of manufacturers, setting important precedents for the industry in Geary Distributing Co. v. All Brand Importers, Inc. (imposing constitutional limits on the application of a state beer franchise law) and in Jim Taylor Corp. v. Guinness Import Co. (defining "brand extension" under Florida law). Richard also has testified as an expert witness in connection with alcohol industry litigation and arbitration.

Richard works with all three tiers of the alcohol beverage industry. He has represented international importers and domestic manufacturers, statewide wholesaler trade groups and regional distributors, and retailers (including multistate restaurant and hotel chains) across the United States. Richard and the firm's Nationwide Alcohol Industry Group service retail licensees in a variety of ways, including liquor, tobacco and lottery licensing; health and food service inspection compliance; responsible vendor and employee training; representation in administrative proceedings; and litigation/dispute resolution.

Richard also works closely with representatives of state and federal government, drafting administrative rules and proposed legislation – both on behalf of clients and at the request of regulators. He has testified before legislative committees of both the Florida Senate and the House of Representatives regarding issues relating to the direct shipment of wine, and has prepared an administrative regulation and statutory amendments at the request of the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco to codify the impact of a judicial decision he successfully obtained on behalf of a client. He also has testified before governmental bodies, such as the New York State Assembly regarding alcohol laws and e-Commerce, and has counseled legislators of Hawaii on the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision in Granholm v. Heald.

Currently, Richard serves as the American Bar Association’s Advisor to the Alcohol Direct Shipping Compliance Act Committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. For over a decade, Richard edited the nationwide Survey of Reported Judicial Decisions Addressing the 21st Amendment and Related Alcohol Laws for the American Bar Association and the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators. He also has authored the chapter "Beverage Alcohol Practice" for the annual Developments in Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice published by the American Bar Association during his term as Chairman of the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice’s Committee on Beverage Alcohol Practice. Other publications by Richard include a chapter titled "The Role of the Food and Beverage Attorney" for the anthology Best Practices for Alcohol Beverage, Food and Drug Law, published by Aspatore Books; an article co-authored with U.S. Sen. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) titled "The Need for Fair Play: Repealing the Federal Baseball Antitrust Exemption," which was published by the Florida Law Review of the University of Florida's Levin College of Law; a paper, "The Competency and Credibility of Children as Witnesses," which was delivered to the World Conference on Police Psychology at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia; and "Speedy Trial: Pre-accusation Delay, Post-accusation Delay, and the Speedy Trial Act of 1975," which was published in the Georgetown Law Journal.

Richard devotes a substantial portion of his practice to trade regulation, litigation, and dispute resolution involving the hospitality industry. He has industry-specific experience in the areas of administrative practice and regulatory compliance, advertising and promotional law, intellectual property rights, mergers & acquisitions, importation matters, supplier/wholesaler distribution relations, and alcohol industry business practices.

Education

Awards