LIQUOR LICENSING
The Law Firm of Travis Charles Smith & Associates, PLLC is your law firm for legal representation in all things related to the sale of alcoholic beverages in Oklahoma. We serve our clients in all aspects of commercial alcohol sales, from the zoning and land use, to liquor license application, to the most important aspect: protecting and defending your license against charges by the Oklahoma ABLE Commission.
We litigate license citations before the ABLE Commission and in the district courts on appeal, if necessary. Our goal is to advise your business on compliance to prevent citations ahead of time. But we aggressively litigate when we need to. We are your one stop shop for all things related to selling alcoholic beverages legally.
The Firm practices all areas of law related to the sale of alcoholic beverages in Oklahoma, including:
- Applying for a Beverage License
- ABLE Commission administrative hearings
- Advising businesses on compliance
- Liquor license defense
- Zoning for Alcoholic Beverage Consumption
- All laws related to alcoholic beverages in Oklahoma
Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Defense
We represent bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment businesses in alcohol licensing and regulation. In Oklahoma, the sale of alcohol is a highly regulated industry. In fact, both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit have ruled that exceptions apply to "closely-regulated" industries, such as Oklahoma businesses that sell alcohol. Oklahoma has created a government agency to specifically handle the task of regulated alcohol sales. The Oklahoma Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement (ABLE) Commission can come into your business, seize documents and records, issue citations, and sanction large fines on your business. They can even shut you down for months, halting your flow of income.
When the ABLE Commission gets involved with your business, call on us to get involved with you.
Just a few examples of the many possible violations the ABLE Commission might charge your business with:
- Remodeling your premises without ABLE permission
- Employing a security company, which you later discover is unlicensed
- Misplacing or moving "Under 21 Prohibited" signs without ABLE permission
- Failure to timely renew license
- Employ an unlicensed person to work
- Employ a person convicted of a felony
- Failure to properly display "Under 21 Prohibited" signs
- Allow person under 21 within designated bar area
- Employing a convicted felon (even if the conviction happens after you hire them!)
- Many, many, many more... call us today to learn more.
As a business owner, you can save time and money in legal defense by taking action before charges are filed. Our Firm will work with you to do as much as we can to prevent such charges from being filed.
Special Treatment for 18 & Up Night Clubs
For instance, is your nightclub or music venue "18 & up"? If so, you should know that by virtue of your particular choice of legal business -- operating an 18 & up nightclub -- you have drawn the special attention of the ABLE Commission, because it is their apparent mission to shut down such clubs. Look around at the clubs that get hit the hardest. See a pattern? The ABLE Commission writes redundant tickets and fines to 18 & Up clubs inn an attempt to wear them down with legal costs. Therefore, its vital that if you operate an "18 and up" club, that you retain experienced counsel to be prepared to weather the storm. Call us today to begin discussing protecting your business.
Bottom Line:
Protect Your Liquor License
Face it. You need to have an attorney on call. All nightclubs, bars, restaurants, and other businesses engaged in the sale of alcohol need to have an attorney on stand by ready to go. Because any minute now an officer for the ABLE Commission can enter your premises, inspect your inventory, poke and prod through your office, and issue you citations because they didn't like the way things looked. And do not simply pay the fines without consulting an attorney. This is your business on the line. Let's protect your livelihood and keep the profits rolling.
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