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This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in December 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Each type of license issued by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) has a number of minimum requirements or conditions that a holder of that license must continuously comply with in order to maintain the license. For example, restaurants, hotels, and eating place retail dispenser licensees must have food, a health license, and seating available to feed and accommodate 30 patrons. Also, restaurant and eating place retail dispenser license holders have statutory serving space requirements to accommodate…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in November 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Legally, restaurant licensees cannot stop serving food while they are conducting sales of alcoholic beverages. A licensee may reduce its menu selections or close the kitchen later in the evening, but they must still offer food that would constitute a meal even if it is just a ham sandwich. If a licensee serves alcoholic beverages up to 2 am, they can close the kitchen, but must have food on hand to serve to patrons up to 2…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in October 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees holding an alcoholic beverage license in the name of a corporation or limited liability company (LLC) should be aware that the officers, directors, and shareholders of a corporation or the members of a LLC generally cannot be held personally liable for its debts. That is the main benefit of the corporate entity, whether it is a corporation or an LLC. The individuals are therefore shielded from its obligations, with it often said that they’re protected by…

For over 25 years, GSG partner Joe Silverstein has been involved with SeniorLAW Center, a nonprofit organization that protects the legal rights and interests of Pennsylvania’s seniors in need, as a volunteer, Board Member and Board Officer. SeniorLAW has statewide operations with a budget of over $5 million and is the only nonprofit law organization in Pennsylvania exclusively devoted to protecting the legal rights of older people. In October 2024, Joe was honored to be elected as the Chair of the Board of Directors. In connection with his service to SeniorLAW Center, Joe commented that “it has been a privilege…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in September 2024. A pdf version can be found here. PROHIBITING BYOB Q. I have a restaurant with a liquor license. I do not allow customers to bring their own wine bottles (BYOB) into the restaurant. A customer insisted that I legally must allow them to bring their own wine to my restaurant. I do not want to start the BYOB practice. A. Licensees are not legally required to allow customers to bring their own alcohol to their restaurant. There is nothing in the Liquor Code or…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in August 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Q: I have a restaurant with a liquor license, and my establishment received a citation for sales to a visibly intoxicated patron. The patron supposedly had bloodshot and glassy eyes, slurred speech, and apparently had fallen asleep at the bar. The State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) officers alleged that when the patron woke up, the bartender served him another beer. I questioned my three bartenders and they denied that anyone that evening seemed to…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in July 2024. A pdf version can be found here. The Pennsylvania Liquor Code legally permits management companies to have a financial interest in a licensee’s business. A licensee can engage a management company to operate, manage, or supervise all or just a part of the licensed business operation, and in return the management company can receive all or a portion of the revenues generated. The use of a management company by a licensee often occurs with hotels and restaurants, and eating place dispenser licenses where the…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in June 2024. A pdf version can be found here. The vast majority of licensees are careful and do not want to engage in sales of alcoholic beverages to underage persons. However, in times of constant economic and staffing changes in the industry, mistakes are made by licensees and their servers. Sales to underage persons have a strict liability legal standard for licensees. Therefore, the licensee’s intent or a mistake by an employee is never a defense against a citation issued for the sales or the furnishing…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in May 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Q. I am the president of a corporation which holds a restaurant liquor license issued by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). My corporation does not own the building or the real estate where the restaurant is located, but leases it from the real estate owner. We have just received notice that our lease will expire in 90 days and will not be renewed. What will happen to our liquor license? Can we transfer it to a…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in April 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Retail licensees providing musical entertainment must be extremely careful not to allow amplified music to be heard off of their licensed premises. This may generate complaints from neighbors or the local police and result in a citation being issued by the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. The Pennsylvania Liquor Code makes it unlawful for licensees to use a “loudspeaker or similar device whereby the sound of music or other entertainment” or the advertisement thereof…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in March 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees should maintain a written employee handbook as a valuable tool when it comes to the highly regulated beverage industry, even if a licensee has only a few employees. The reason for the handbook is simple: the licensee’s self-protection. Employees have the house rules in a written form, and therefore cannot claim ignorance when it comes to disciplinary actions for a violation. The handbook should be drafted for the applicable class of license held by the licensee:…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in February 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees often become involved in civil lawsuits for allegedly serving a patron too much alcohol, and injuries or deaths occur as a result to third parties or the overserved patron. These are generally referred to as “dram shop” claims. There are steps that licensees should take once they have received a notice of such a claim. These steps apply to all lawsuits. Put your insurance company on notice and hire an attorney as soon as you become…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in January 2024. A pdf version can be found here. Pennsylvania has what is known as a three-tier licensing system: 1) manufacturing, for example, a brewery license; 2) wholesale, for example, a beer distributorship license; and 3) retail, for example, restaurant, hotel, and club licenses. Generally, the Liquor Code prohibits a person or an entity from possessing more than one class of license or having a direct or an indirect interest in another class of license. Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) applicants for a license must prove…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in December 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Q. I had three citations for sales to minors and I entered into a Conditional Licensing Agreement (CLA) with the Board to renew my restaurant liquor license. One of the conditions of the CLA is that I must scan the ID of all my patrons no matter their ages and no matter if the patron has been carded and scanned before. I find that this is a problem. The patrons are complaining. I even have to scan…

Mike Green, a founding member of Green, Silverstein and Groff, spoke at the National Association of Settlement Purchasers Conference in Hollywood, Florida held in November 2023. Mike appeared as part of the Outside Counsel Panel, discussing trends and developments in the structured settlement transfer industry, especially as they impact Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in November 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees are aware that in order to renew, transfer, or obtain a PLCB license both the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry each must issue tax clearances for the licensee. Therefore, the licensee has the obligation to be current in both the filing of tax reports and the payment of the taxes due that are associated with those reports. Without the clearances, the respective licenses will not be renewed, validated, and…

Joe Silverstein, a founding partner of Green, Silverstein and Groff, was named Vice Chair of SeniorLAW Center. This is Joe's second tour of duty as Vice Chair of this important organization which helps Pennsylvania's elders age with dignity and safety, free from abuse and violence, in their homes and neighborhoods.

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in October 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees should be well aware that in order to renew, transfer, or obtain a PLCB license both the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry each must issue tax clearances for the licensee. Therefore, the licensee or an applicant for a license has the obligation to be current in both the filing of tax reports and the payment of the taxes. Without the clearances, the respective licenses will not be renewed, validated,…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in September 2023. A pdf version can be found here. A club holding a club liquor or a club malt beverage license issued by the PLCB must adhere to the provisions of the Liquor Code, the regulations of the PLCB, and the provisions of its charter and its bylaws. Meetings should be held, and the minutes of those meetings should be reduced to a written format and included in the club’s minute book. The minute book should contain minutes of all regular and special meetings recorded by…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in August 2023. A pdf version can be found here. All licensees of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) are mandated to maintain the licenses issued to them by complying with statutory requirements that apply to their specific license, such as having seating for 30 patrons. Licensees may find the numerous requirements to be onerous, but compliance with the PA Liquor Code and the PLCB regulations are a must; a license is a privilege between the licensee and the PCLB. Depending on the type of PLCB license…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in July 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees must check their individual license requirements to see if their licensed premises meet all requirements for the license that was issued to them by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB). The PLCB has the legal authority, in addition to the PA State Police, to enforce licensees’ compliance with the basic requirements that apply to the type of license that a licensee holds. The PLCB does this through its License Compliance Program. Each type of license, (restaurant,…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in June 2023. A pdf version can be found here. The PA State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE) has become aggressive with licensees who violate a conditional licensing agreement (CLA) where compliance with the PLCB’s Responsible Alcohol Management Program (RAMP) is mandated. Licensees who have entered into a conditional licensing agreement with the PLCB must maintain and renew the RAMP certification every two years. Failure to timely renew or obtain the RAMP certification is a violation of that conditional licensing agreement for which the PA…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in May 2023. A pdf version can be found here. PLCB Wine Expanded Permits (WEP) are becoming increasingly prevalent. These permits authorize restaurant and hotel liquor licensees to sell wine by the bottle for off-premise consumption much like sales of beer to go. So, basically, licensees can have a wine store for the PLCB application fee of $2,000. Licensees holding a WEP have a different compliance standard when it comes to checking the age of youthful looking patrons. Liquor licensees holding a WEP are required to use…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in April 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Q. I own a restaurant licensed by the PLCB. The restaurant liquor license is held in the name of my limited liability company. I have a buyer who wants to purchase the business and license right away and start operating without waiting for his PLCB transfer approval. The buyer would take all of the profits, and pay me rent as the owner of the real estate. Is there any way I can lease the license to the…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in March 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Finding a sufficient number of employees is a recognized national problem, especially for businesses in the hospitality industry. Licensees may be so desperate that they will even hire totally inexperienced persons to staff their establishments. This can create concerns regarding the employees’ knowledge of the laws that apply to the alcoholic beverage industry. Therefore, new employees must be educated as to the legal issues involved in the highly regulated alcohol beverage industry. Licensees must take the time…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in February 2023. A pdf version can be found here. I have written about the importance for licensees to have an employee handbook in a past column. Licensees should maintain a written employee handbook even though a licensee may have only a few employees. The reason for the handbook is simple: self-protection. The employees have the house rules in a written form, and therefore the employees cannot say that they did not know the house rules when it comes to disciplinary actions. The handbook should be drafted…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in January 2023. A pdf version can be found here. Q. I am closing my restaurant for extensive renovations. We expect to be closed for about three months. Do I have to notify the PLCB that the restaurant will be closed? A. Yes. Whenever your licensed establishment will be closed for 15 days or more, regardless of the reason for the closure, you must place your license into safekeeping with the PLCB. You do this by notifying the PLCB online at PLCB+, stating the reason why you…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in December 2022. A pdf version can be found here. Retail licensees providing musical entertainment must be extremely careful not to allow amplified music to be heard off of their licensed premises. Usually, amplified music heard off of the premises will generate complaints from neighbors or the local police and result in a citation or citations being issued by the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement. The Pennsylvania Liquor Code makes it unlawful for licensees to use a “loudspeaker or similar device whereby the sound…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in November 2022. A pdf version can be found here. Q. I am a member in a limited liability company holding a restaurant liquor license and I have the opportunity to become a majority shareholder in a corporation holding a brewery license. I want to be both a member in the brewery and a shareholder in the limited liability company holding the restaurant liquor license. Can this be done? A. You will not be legally allowed to hold an ownership interest both as a shareholder in a…

This article was originally published in The Pennsylvania Observer / Pennsylvania Beverage Media in October 2022. A pdf version can be found here. Licensees are still being cited for sales to minors as a result of Pennsylvania’s age compliance program, which is administered by the State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement (BLCE). This program is still very much active, even though the Pennsylvania General Assembly must approve to continue the program past December 2022. I have written about this program in past columns and it is worth revisiting since the sales or the furnishing of alcohol to minors is…