This video is from the American Agriculture Law Association (“AALA”) Annual Meeting in Charleston, South Carolina last October 2015 from the roundtable discussion titled “Multimedia Specialist: Grow Your Food & Agricultural Law Practice and Management of High Profile Cases.” Offering their public relations advice, faculty members included Keith Emmer, Greg Brooks and Weatherly Thomas. Below are the powerpoint slides that …
Animal Abuse Registry in Suffolk County
In 2010, Suffolk County became the first county in New York State to require offenders convicted of animal abuse crimes to register with a database. The law requires that all convicted offenders 18 and older register with the database within five days of being sentenced or being released from incarceration. The law does not apply to juvenile offenders or to …
My Presentation on New York Farm Animal Welfare Law
This presentation was prepared for Lawline.com. I was originally scheduled to give this presentation last month but it is postponed to this afternoon. Your can register for the live webcast or order the recording via Lawline. This presentation discusses the national perspective of livestock animal cruelty law, New York farm animal welfare law, “cowboy” criminal procedure (discussing search and seizure) and …
How New York State Regulates Wine Law
The wine industry is regulated by the federal government and the individual states. State wine law can vary drastically from state to state. Each state has its own unique set of laws governing winemaking. In New York, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (“ABC”) governs licenses and regulations within New York State (“NYS”). The New York State Liquor Authority is the …
My Wine & Vineyard Law Presentation
[slideshare id=54880203&doc=nbiwinepresentation11-8-15-151108170827-lva1-app6891] Really enjoyed presenting on wine law last month via the National Business Institute (NBI). For those of you who are looking for holiday gift ideas for yours truly, I love wine. Red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, sake. I don’t discriminate. The above presentation focuses on permits and licenses. It also discusses the governmental players, the types of wineries, …
How Wine is Regulated by the Federal Government
If someone is thinking about entering the wine industry world, one should be familiar with how the federal government regulates this industry. The wine industry, and the alcohol industry as a whole, is highly regulated by both the federal government and individual states. This is because the government sees being a part of this industry as a privilege, not a …
Idaho’s Ag-Gag Law Struck Down
“Ag gag” refers to anti-whistleblower statutes that prohibit employees from taking pictures and recording video illustrating alleged cruelty to animals, food safety issues, and/or poor working conditions, during the farming process and/or restrict people such as activist and undercover journalists from obtaining illegal access (commonly through job application fraud) onto agricultural operations for this same purpose. I spoke on “Ag …
Some Food for Thought on Interns
Most businesses at one point or another come across the process of hiring interns. The decision to bring on an intern may be easy to take, but whether or not he should be paid is a matter that is more complicated. Many employers believe that as long as you label the person being hired as an intern that paying that …
Interested in Learning More About Insurance for Farms, Ranches, Agri-Businesses and Food Entrepreneurs?
I moderated a webinar for the American Bar Association’s (“ABA”) General Practice Solo & Small Firm Division’s Agriculture Law Committee on insurance for the farmer, rancher, agri-business or food entrepreneur. The recording is available for purchase here. This is a substantive CLE program covering many types of insurance including, but not limited to, Farmowners’ Comprehensive Liability Program (“FCLP”), commercial insurance, …
Lawline Presentation on New York Farm Animal Welfare Law
I will be giving a Lawline presentation tomorrow, November 12, 2015 from 3:30 to 4:30pm on New York Farm animal welfare law. The live webcast is tomorrow but the recording will be available via Lawline later. Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) credit is available. This outline (posted on my JD Supra page) is New York specific but my presentation does talk …
Presentation on Direct Farm Marketing
This is my powerpoint presentation from the direct farm marketing, agri-tourism and local food presentation that I gave at the University of Tennessee about a month ago. My part of the presentation focuses on Community Supported Agriculture (“CSA”) Agreements, volunteer farm labor and the USDA Statistics from the Census of Agriculture on local food and direct farm marketing. Here is …
Litigating Surrounding Vermont’s GMO Labeling Bill
In April of 2014, Vermont became the first state in the United States to require that all food products sold within the state of Vermont have a label indicating if it contains genetically modified ingredients. The law also prohibits manufacturers from writing “natural” or “all-natural” if a food product does contain GMOs. The law goes into effect in July 2016, …