Articles by: David Balter

Franchise Laws and Diageo’s Recent Distributor Termination Action in Missouri

Ohio,New Jersey,North Carolina,Virginia, and a number of other states restrict a winery’s ability to terminate distributors in that state through “franchise laws.” The Virginia Wine Franchise Act, for example, prevents a winery from unilaterally amending, cancelling, terminating or refusing to renew anyVirginia distribution agreement absent good cause, and good cause is very narrowly defined.  A […]

Alcohol Beverage Licenses as Assets in Debt Collection

A recent US Bankruptcy Court case from the Middle District of Florida highlights the pitfalls of attempting to value certain assets, including a bar and liquor license, without expert assistance (Zaslavsky v. Smith (In re Smith) January 31, 2013, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 434). In this matter, plaintiff creditor brought an adversary proceeding against defendant bankruptcy […]

Winery Exchange v. 7-Eleven – $2 million Supplier Dispute

An interesting case in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently came to our attention. Winery Exchange (“WX”), a private label wine and beer producer, has sued 7-Eleven Corporation (yes, that 7-Eleven ) alleging it breached a series of Private Label Beer Supplier Agreements to the tune of approximately $2.0 million. […]

Seminar on How to Collect on Deadbeat Accounts

Dickenson Peatman & Fogarty partner David Balter was featured speaker at the National Business Institute’s seminar “Collections; Seeking and Collecting a Judgment,” which was held on January 24, 2012 in San Francisco, California. This seminar will be of special interest to wineries, growers, distributors and retailers, as well as anyone interested in learning the nuts and bolts of […]