For full disclosure, I am co-counsel on this case with Gillian Garrett, an outstanding attorney from the Bay Area.
California wanted to dismiss a Commerce Clause challenge to a discriminatory law, which allows its own wineries to sell direct to retailer but denies this same privilege to out-of-state wineries.
In Blue Sky Vineyard, LLC v. Tupy […]
In Chicago, a corrupt mayor never goes to jail — it’s always some low-level schmuck who goes to prison. It is difficult not to develop a cynicism that the federal government harpoons the minnows while letting the dirty whale swim by.
I had the same thought when I learned about the federal government’s settlement with the […]
In no other industry could you pass a law requiring a seller to be paid within 30 days, while leaving the product they bought upstream with no timely-payment requirement at all. Yet that’s exactly the arrangement the three-tier system protects: a wholesaler sells to a retailer, who is legally required to pay within […]
In a rarity in Washington these days, bipartisan legislation has been introduced to address one of the fastest-growing sectors in consumer products: hemp-derived cannabinoids. Introduced by Representatives Andy Barr (R-Ky.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the Lawful Hemp Protection Act would establish a federal regulatory framework for low-THC hemp products, replacing the patchwork of state laws […]
Can a Digital Whiskey Exchange Solve Ireland’s Biggest Whiskey Challenge?
Ireland is experiencing a whiskey renaissance.
Over the past decade, dozens of new distilleries have opened, production has increased dramatically, exports continue to grow, and Irish whiskey has become one of the fastest-growing premium spirits in the world.
Yet behind this success lies a financial challenge unique to […]
Today, I filed my fifth amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court, this time in Yost v. Miller. The brief supports the Ohio Attorney General’s petition for certiorari while urging the Court to affirm the Sixth Circuit’s decision.
The case presents issues that extend far beyond wine. At stake is […]
On June 5th, the state of Ohio filed a challenge to the 6th Circuit’s ruling in Block v. Canepa, which held that Ohio’s discriminatory wine retailer shipping law was unconstitutional for violating the dormant Commerce Clause and that the law did not properly serve health and safety interest.
The State of Ohio filed a cert petition […]
On June 5th, Ohio notified the Sixth Circuit that it has filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, appealing the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Block v. Canepa, which held that Ohio’s discriminatory wine retailer shipping law and alcohol importation restriction laws as unconstitutional. It further requested that the filing […]
On February 24, 2026, my co-counsel, Gillian Garrett and I filed suit against the State of California challenging laws that allow California wineries to sell directly to California retailers without using a wholesaler, while denying those same privileges to out-of-state wineries.
We believe California’s system violates the dormant Commerce Clause by granting in-state wineries a substantial […]
A week after its discriminatory wine retailer shipping law was found unconstitutional by the Sixth Circuit, Ohio filed a motion to stay the Sixth Circuit’s mandate.
In the first line of the motion Ohio AG Dave Yost states that Ohio intends to file a writ of certiorari in this case with SCOTUS and the deadline for filing […]