Gallet Dreyer & Berkey, LLP assists restaurateurs, wine and spirits importers and retailers, and others in the food, beverage, restaurant, and hospitality industries. We assist our clients with their legal and business needs, including business entity formation, governmental regulation, employment issues, tax issues, litigation, real estate, intellectual property, and other legal matters. Our clients include Michelin-starred chefs and restaurateurs, award-winning winemakers, bar and club owners, and their partners and financiers.
 

Representative matters include:

• formation and launch of various wine importing businesses;
• formation of a joint venture for the importation of spirits from Japan;
• litigation against a prominent NYC wine retailer and private client storage business for converting a client’s wine collection;
• advising on recent tariff issues;
• analysis of changing wine shipment laws and regulations;
• preparation of joint venture and other operating agreements, offering memoranda, subscription agreements, employment contracts, vendor contracts, etc.;
• protection, assignment, and licensing of intellectual property including alcohol brand names and popular restaurant trade names;
• restaurant and other business partnership disputes and reorganizations;
• restaurant and other business finance;
• franchise transactions and disputes;
• leasing and other real estate issues;
• employment issues and policies, employment agreements, wage and other labor claims and audits, including Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and parallel state laws;
• advising on compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) and defending claims, and
• asset protection for restaurants and other business owners and investors.

This practice area is headed by partners Asher Rubinstein, Esq. and David T. Azrin, Esq., and assisted by other attorneys in the firm’s real estate, corporate, intellectual property, franchise, and litigation groups. Asher Rubinstein is an avid wine collector and food aficionado. He was also a national blind wine tasting finalist, is a member of the Wine, Beer and Spirits Law Committee of the Business Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, and a member of the Chaînes des Rôtisseurs and the New York Wine and Food Society. David T. Azrin handles franchise law, intellectual property, and employment law matters. He counsels clients on their efforts to expand using a franchising or other distribution model, protecting their brand names and other intellectual property, and complying with employment law requirements. David Azrin is an active member of the International Franchise Association, the New York State Bar Franchise, Distribution and Licensing Law Committee, and he was named one of the top franchise attorneys (“Legal Eagle”) in the United States by Franchise Times magazine and a top-rated “Super Lawyer” in New York for franchise and dealership law.