YOUR MOST LIKELY LAWSUIT? T
he internet is an amazing thing — especially when you pair it with a paid subscription service. And I’m not talking about the kind of service that would have your human resources department up in arms. I’m talking about a legal news service. Let me explain. My firm subscribes to a few legal research services. I won’t name them, but these are basically information aggregators that pull together case filings and similar legal developments from all over the United States (and beyond) and make them searchable by way of a reasonably clunky user interface. By using that same interface you can enable a search that will deliver to your email inbox every single morning a list and summary of new cases that have been filed involving any topic of your choosing. And so I did. Every morning, one of the first emails I receive is a list of all the cases that have been filed in the past 24 hours involving spirits, distilleries, or something sufficiently confusing to the search engine that it “thinks” the case might involve hooch. Of course, sometimes it is wrong; it turns out there are a remarkable number of practicing attorneys in California and Texas who are named Brandy, and based on my inbox they seem to be quite busy in their work. But of course I’m not trying to learn what
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WRITTEN BY BRIAN B. DEFOE.
cases Brandy (though I hear she may be a fine girl — sorry, couldn’t resist) might bring. I’m trying to keep my finger on the pulse of liability trends in the industry for the benefit of clients. And with all that as background, let me ask you a question. What type of claim do I see brought against spirits companies more frequently than any other type? I think the answer might surprise you. By far, the most common claim to land in my inbox has nothing whatsoever to do with trademark issues or TTB compliance, dram shop liabilities or defaults under contracts. The most common claim relates to… disability accommodation. Specifically, the claims are brought under the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or some similar state act. WWW.ARTISANSPIRITMAG.COM